The 1975 “Settle Down”
“Settle Down” is the latest single from The 1975’s self titled album out now. The video is a take on a recurring dream of the band’s frontman Matty. The setting is somewhere in Northern England where there are factories and a shore. Dealing with same sex love, and it’s open to how platonic or sexual it is, the video features around two young boys. Interestingly, they are usually seen separate. Literally alone. It’s almost as though no other boys or girls live in this town. One has a mother who seems awfully distressed and keeps checking on her son who is sitting at a table working on a model airplane. The other boy has a father that works and possibly owns a car garage. There is one scene where this father is driving with his son in the rear of the car. The boy looks out the back of the window as though he’s moving away from something he doesn’t want to lose. In the end, it seems to work out well. The two boys each make an escape and come to find one another on the street. They put their hands out to one another, a light begins to shine, and suddenly the adults all fall down. It’s unknown if they die or simply lose consciousness. What is known is that the two boys are happy.
Minor Alps “Waiting For You”
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf and Juliana Hatfield have a project together called from Minor Alps. Their debut album is Get There and is available for purchase now. Their latest single is “Waiting For You”. The video features two single people. They always seem to be in the general area but don’t interact. At first it’s unclear if they know each other or if they are interacting with different people. The female at times seems a little sad but tends to be the one to have a happy memory and just smile. The man seems a little more nervous and apprehensive. It all culminates at a Laundromat where both parties wind up sitting next to one another. Their body language indicates that either they don’t know each other or they aren’t very warm towards one another. It’s just one of those moments where whatever the reason you want one to talk to the other. It’s almost like all those times on How I Met Your Mother where two characters are constantly in the same area but just seem to refuse to bump into one another. And that is what waiting to meet someone is like. You just wait never knowing. That’s why you have to go out there and meet people.
Xiu Xiu “Stupid in the Dark”
With their new release Angel Guts:Red Classroom, Xiu Xiu are preparing for a tour. Their latest single is “Stupid in the Dark”. The video isn’t clear as to why the events that occur do, but we do get a sense that there is some discomfort and reluctance in the actions. What we have at the very least is a common law marriage. The female is in the kitchen cooking when she begins to look at all the sharp utensils she has. Yet, she settles on a big frying pan, because blunt force trauma isn’t as traumatic to the assailant as stabbing could be. If you notice, there is a sign above the doorway in the kitchen that reads “EVIL”. The woman makes her way over to the man who is on his phone, maybe speaking to a mistress. She sneaks up on him and hits him with the frying pan. After leaving to grab a knife she returns only to hit him some more with the frying pan. When this isn’t enough, she drags him to the bathroom and runs some water hoping to drown him. He struggles and gets free only able to make his escape a few steps before falling. Here she wraps him up in heavy plastic and when it appears he moves stabs him. No tears on her face. No emotion whatsoever. It’s just her looking to the ceiling. The end.
Annie featuring Bjarne Melgaard “Russian Kiss”
Norway’s Annie has a new single out featuring Bjarne Melgaard and she’s blatantly going after the Russian government and ther attitude towards the LBGT community. The track is called “Russian Kiss” and features several same sex couples making out in its video. This is sure to cause serious outrage not just in Russia but in many countries. I get it. As a guy who finds women to be sexually attractive I just don’t see what’s so hot about men. But two guys getting together doesn’t bother me. And two girls getting together makes sense, remember as a person I’m preprogrammed to just assume that the whole world sees things as I do. I think that’s the problem here. Straight men who just can’t grasp why two women would rather be with each other than with the straight men. And gay men, why would you want to be with a man when you could be with that insecure straight dude’s girlfriend or wife? I think that’s really what it comes down to. How dare you tell me another man is more attractive than the woman I love? Really. And I understand that religion plays a part in this. I’m Catholic, so this whole same sex thing is not just taboo but a big no-no. Still, here’s how I see it. I don’t want anyone coming into my bedroom and telling me I can’t have a bible or pray, or even have sex with a woman if I so choose. So, I’m not about to go into someone else’s bedroom, thump my bible, call them sinners, and tell them not to have consensual sex with someone they love. Face it, we all have neighbors who are living in sin because they’re not married. Yet, we somehow look past that and don’t berate and abuse them in hopes they’ll “do the right thing” and get married. Let people live, let them love.
Lily Allen “Air Balloon”
In her latest song “Air Balloon”, Lily Allen admits that sometimes she gets bored and her mind just drifts. Well, I’d like to drift away to the location of her video for the single. It’s warm. She’s got butterflies around her. She feeds a zebra. There’s a cheetah that stares at the camera with the same face my nephew makes when he’s got a camera in front of him. The video also takes advantage of the old tie your camera to a balloon technique. We go very high in the sky very quickly and then come back down to Lily. The songs a great lighthearted start to the weekend. And if you’re stuck in the cold confines of the north with snow on the ground, look at the video and just know that there are places where it’s warm and beautiful. The seasons, they’re never permanent.
