Last fall Montreal based art-punk outfit Ought released their fantastic sophomore LP, Sun Coming Down. The album’s stand out track “Beautiful Blue Sky” has been a fav since Ought began playing it live and now they’ve released an equally memorable video to match. The clip features movement artist Matt Drews and is inspired by Tarkovsky’s The Mirror. As director Bobby McHugh told NPR…
Clarity, balance and happiness can be the direct result of movement and breath, while our obsession with development, consumerism and frustration with the banalities of our everyday experience can cause feelings of nihilism and depression that at their most extreme can render us immobile and constrained. In this video, I tried to weave together two dreamy, surreal storylines that reflect these two competing states of being.
Matt Drews is the subject of this piece. He has that perfect mix of seriousness and sensitivity that can easily move back and forth between agitated immobility and tender acceptance. We shot Matt in a series of locations common to all of our experience, creating dreamy portraits that mimic the feeling of the lyrics.
We wanted the camera work to feel like Tarkovsky’s The Mirror, which employs long loose shots that work like a stream of consciousness, similar to Tim’s lyrics in the song. And in the edit, we wanted to present a structure that felt like a surreal dream that paired with my interpretation of the ideas Ought presents in the song.
Light and flowers are two recurring visual elements. You’ll notice the healthiest flowers occurring in scenes with natural light, along with breadth and movement. And the least healthy exist in lighting conditions similar to the devices (phones, laptops, TVs) that surround us. I really love the way the light in the bed works, since so many of us go to bed and wake up next to our phones and tablets. Tim’s streaming list of concerns in this scene kind of mimic the internet news ticker. Or a Facebook feed, or whatever.
Watch the mesmerizing video above.
Sun Coming Down is out now on Constellation Records, grab a copy here. Ought are also currently on tour (dates below). Go see them.
Tour Dates
5/4: Sinclair – Boston, MA #
5/5: The Met – Pawtucket, RI #
5/6: Flywheel – Easthampton, MA #
5/7: Silent Barn – Brooklyn, NY # (SOLD OUT)
5/8: Rough Trade – Brooklyn, NY #
5/9: PhilaMoca – Philadelphia, PA #
5/10: The Black Cat – DC #
5/12: Kings – Raleigh, NC #
5/13: The Pour House – Charleston, SC #
5/15: Shaky Knees Festival – Atlanta, GA
5/16: Firehouse – Birmingham, AL #
5/17: Siberia – New Orleans, LA #
5/19: Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX #
5/20: Sidewinder – Austin, TX #
5/21: Red Blood Club – Dallas, TX #
5/23: 12th & Porter – Nashville, TN #
5/24: Zanzabar – Louisville, KY #
5/26: Marble Bar – Detroit, MI ^
5/27: Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON ^
5/28: Matahari Loft – Montreal, QB ^
7/22 – 7/24: Hillside Festival – Guelph, ON
7/25: Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL
7/30: SappyFest – Sackville, NB
9/16 – 9/18: The New Alternative Music Festival – Asbury Park, NJ
# – w/ Priests
^ – w/ Palm