- Music
- 29 Oct 19
A burning ode to love in a time of state-sponsored violence, the video for 'Jungle' depicts an eeriely familiar dystopian future.
Having covered the release of 'Jungle' earlier this month, Hot Press got a first look at the video for Somebody's Child's new single this morning. It's a typically provoking piece, from one of Ireland's most highly-touted acts of 2019.
Speaking about the single earlier this month, Somebody's Child said: "'Jungle' to me provokes different feelings than my previous releases, such as loneliness, anguish, hurt and isolation", Somebody's Child says, "Its message is clear. It is a reflection of the times we are living in. My generation feels disillusioned in its relationship with authority due to the circus going on right from the top figures down to the media broadcast in our homes."
The video also has a correlation with the turbulence of politics currently taking in the UK at the moment.
"We had originally scheduled the release of this video for Brexit day, on October 31st, to make a point,” the artist explains. "That is, first and foremost, that far too many of today's leaders seem to be utterly incapable of offering any meaningful sense of direction to their citizens. Lo and behold, this date has been postponed yet again. The farce goes on."
These feeling of frustration and disillusionment are condensed into a shockingly brilliant 4 minute, 41 second music video, produced by Auto • Mat, a creative collective led by Alba Fernandez and Danilo Zambrano.
"The visuals for Jungle offer a glimpse into a dystopian society," the collective explain. "A totalitarian government has full control over their citizens. The tyrannical leaders of this fictional world deem strong emotions dangerous, unstable and a hazard to their nation. As such, they aim to censor them by any means possible. Like other couples in this world, the two main characters, Laura and Ben, are being held prisoners due to their raw feelings of love and affection for one another. They are forced to wear neck braces which monitor their emotional reactions. When triggered by unreserved emotions, the brace shocks its owner to their death."
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Watch the video for 'Jungle' here:
Jungle marks a new, unique step in the development of Somebodys Child. He has been talked about as one of the most exciting artists to emerge in 2019, in no small part due to the unique nature of each song he releases.
In an interview with Hot Press back in August, Somebody's Child explained to Lucy O'Toole why it's so important to him to change things up from song to song. "One thing I hated in the past was trying to come up with a sound that was consistent throughout", he says, "Once I rid myself of that, I felt so much freer to write in any way that I wanted. I wasn't confined to the constrictions of what people associate with typical indie-rock or alternative pop music."
To find out more about Somebodys Child, go here.