Sneak Peek! "Sirens of Titan" Video
Added 2022-06-01 14:03:58 +0000 UTCYou get it first. we're launching the last single for "High School" TOMORROW and it's a big one... "Sirens of Titan" with a killer video from the great Ben Levin. Ben took some old pics and home videos I sent him to model the environments. I think it's pretty cool!
Funny enough I started writing this song with Kurt Vile in mind, or at least thinking about his phrasing... I just locked into a chord shape, a bit like how I wrote "Fear of Death." I sent a rough version of the record to Kurt and was hoping he wouldn't mind borrowing of styles, and he singled out that song as one of his favorites! so when he was in town, he came by and lended his vocals and that crazy guitar solo - a few things on that: he was using this pedal that Lou Reed designed which was meant to emulate the sound of an amp dying! A Lou Reed designed pedal on a song about the VU? The stars were aligned! He did a few versions of the solo and then I spliced them together quite randomly, creating a performance that would probably be impossible to perform live. as kurt will say: "Damn!" When we played it in New York, the band shouted "Damn" during that part and I hope when we start playing it on tour the audience catches on and joins in.
Drew Erickson really shines on this track for me - He had the idea to add those disco "Another Brick in the Wall" guitar stabs.... and then adds this really lush, haunting synth in the second half - feels like Blade Runner!
Lyrically, I guess it's just me reflecting on being a teenager in the 1990s - I remember a bad report card and waiting for my dad to come home... I knew it was gonna be a bad scene... and putting on my headphones and listening to the first Velvet Underground record and finding real comfort there. It's about how art like that and Vonnegut's book really helped me find my voice and feel less alone in the world.
Hope you enjoy it! When it lands publicly TOMORROW let's share this fucker WIDE
Peace and Love,
T
