A strong new video proving the creative integrity of up and coming Canadian band July Talk.
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July Talk’s newest video sees the translation of years of live performance into choreographed luxury. From all of the songs on their new album that was released just a few weeks ago, the band have chosen ‘Beck + Call’ – which features Canadian throat singer, (yes, throat singer) and artist Tanya Tagaq – for their Touch video debut.
Stripped down to its core, the video begins with just Tagaq’s pulsing rhythm that propels a powerful exploration of love and relationships forward. This added introduction that isn’t present on the single grounds the piece beautifully, and sets it up as a video of naked and raw footage.
Following suit with their other videos, everything is washed in a Manichean black and white. Leah and Peter take centre stage, writhing and throwing their bodies around a cold and impersonal factory floor that acts as both the void space between the sheets – as in the ‘blind love in dark bedrooms, finding love within confusion’ – as well as the perfect setting of an after hours fight club. Although reducing modern relationships to tales of loneliness and sparring, it’s not without reason in a world that supposedly advocates equality, yet frequently undermines feminism. This stance can taint people; who in turn become blind to their own inequalities in their relationships.
The contrast between the timidity and ferocity of their movements strikes the perfect duality between harsh and intimate. The imbalance within their relationship is clear and commands your every attention. The telekinetic forces of the lovers, literally portrayed at one another’s beck and call, combats the slower and more tender moments; such as the hand touching, a subtle nod to the album art for Touch created by the band’s artist friend Charles Bierk (click here to see a few familiar faces among Bierk’s portraits). It blurs the line between loving, lusting and dominating, but the end of the video also portrays the we’re-in-this-together attitude that some couples share. It recognises their dependency, as well as their refusal to acknowledge it.
July Talk’s latest video sits provocatively amongst its predecessors as the band remains just as loyal to all aspects of their creations.
