Outrunning your demons is no easy task. Try as you might they just seem to be one step behind you and refuse to be shaken off. They are after all your demons, and where you go they are bound to follow. Don’t let that get you down, that isn’t in the spirit in which this here digital publication thrives on. Yet such feelings are always there; those of anxiety, doubt, loneliness and fear. And they are all brought to life in the brooding video for Medicine, the latest single form Brisbane’s Jakarta Criers.
Brisbane alternative rock fellows Jakarta Criers get ghoulish in the new clip for Medicine. With broken hearts aplenty it’s not you typical monster mash.
The Brisbane four-piece have have been a bit quiet lately. Since their formation in 2009 they released their debut EP Moonlife in 2012 and two singles about a year ago. Things have been slowly ramping up for the band now, their sophomore effort Regal Twin set for release later this year. Medicine is the first offering from that EP, a slightly more pop-y tale on the band’s usual alternative rock aesthetic that was far more popular back when they formed. But change is good for the soul they say (I think) and the band manage the smooth transition while still maintaining their air of urgency and high-energy.
The video for Medicine takes the themes of the song, in this case searching for redemption and reconciliation, and crafts a neat little visual narrative. Our protagonist stumbles down a derelict alleyway, flustered as he searches for his lady. As he journeys he encounters many gruesome fiends that line the alleyway, themselves looking a bit rough around the edges. Obviously because they’re monsters, but it becomes clear that they represent his frenzied mental state. This isn’t the spook-fest that is Thriller, these monsters are emotional ones that fester in your mind. As the clip reaches its climax you find they don’t chase our hero down, but run along side him.
Praise has to got the make-up team for their work on said creepy creatures. Each of them are distinct, managing to be intimidating and at the same time a little melancholy. Director Dillon Puswald positions these demons as not ones who stalk the alleyway, but ones that wallow there. The lack of lighting and lingering close ups adds to this feeling. It’s a horror story of a completely different nature and it works well.
You can catch Jakarta Criers when they pop on down to Sydney at the Brighton Up Bar on September 3 with North Arm.
