Premiere: Matthew Heller “Orange Cup” (official music video)

Matthew Heller is preparing to release his new album, Temple Moon Desire. Part of what he tasked himself with while writing the album was to look at the world from others’ perspective. The album’s latest single, “Orange Cup” does exactly that.

Although organ-filled psychedelic rock might not seem like a hot bed for sociopolitical songwriting, that is exactly what Matthew Heller does. He explains “‘Orange Cup’ is about what it feels like to always be in fear of the police. Our nation constantly sees tragedies perpetrated by police officers against people of color. I wrote this song not about a cop shooting a black man – but about what it’s like to watch television, and every week see another murder committed by the police.”

The video, directed by Jov Luke, is almost a mini-movie. It features a man being pursued by police after they find him smoking weed. The story takes some twists and turns that you might not see coming. While coming from a place of priviledge and creating such a video may raise some questions, Heller explains: “I wanted to create a music-video with a director and team of actors who understood my vision of police brutality – who brought their own stories to the table – and who could help bring to life a story that isn’t hackneyed or full of cliché shallow imagery.” Jov Luke and company, help do just that. The video is compelling without feeling like just a re-creation of a TV news story.

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