Trying to make sense of the New Lovers‘ clip for Fatal Shore is a lot like a novice trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube while blind folded. It’s scattered, complex, and a surreal experience. That’s how you feel watching the video after a few beers at the office Christmas party, and you may brush off the feeling as typical tipsy brain malfunctioning. However once you sober up a little, well, it’s still just as confusing. But by no means does that mean that Fatal Shore isn’t great. It’s actually pretty damn good!
Twisted and surreal, Lagoon Collective give us something to ponder this weekend with the clip for New Lovers’ Fatal Shore.
The thing to really appreciate here is the narrative found in the lack of narrative. That isn’t a typo. Upon watching the video this point will make itself perfectly clear. The video utilises the dark tones from the song and presents those feelings on film in a way that is quite moving. First of all major props to the guys from Lagoon Collective, the Bondi film makers have clearly buried themselves in the song to come up with a clip that completely fleshes it out. Those feelings of frustration burst forth in the montage of black and white images, shot in their trademark stark style.
Shot in the outer west of Sydney, Lagoon Collective found that this location lent the video much of its character. It’s a landscape that is buzzing with life yet at the same time crumbling away in a shadow of anonymity cast by the city. There is a slight Twilight Zone vibe, which you can chalk up to the lack of colour. Watch the video again without sound and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
That in itself is quite a strength. The scenes cut from various and seemingly unrelated events; women dancing, our front man Nicholas Elias tearing through the Sydney streets, unhinged as he sings the song, before finding him submerged in the ocean, and in another scene shirtless in a dark warehouse. Throwing in some moving shots of the city skylines, buildings and tunnels lends itself to a metaphor of journey, not in a physical sense but the personal kind that the lyrics represent. As Elias sings “Why can’t you get it together”, you wonder if he’s addressing himself, the landscape or both.
New Lovers are debuting the clip for Fatal Shore at El Topo Basement in Sydney tonight. After the screening the band will be performing, with old mates Young Henry’s proving free brewskis from 8-10. How can you go wrong?
