NewVillager – “LightHouse”

NewVillager - "LightHouse" from stereogum on Vimeo.

NewVillager is a Brooklyn-based artist collective (via San Fransisco) founded by Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini. They produce “… drawings, photographs, film, and installations,” according to their bio. Music is another part of their work, but it’s a huge and very strong part, going by “LightHouse.” I love how the deep-voiced chorus contrasts with the lightness of the strings and reversed samples; the effect’s joyous, soulful. Their bio mentions that they recorded each song on their upcoming debut 10 times, with different choruses, melodies, etc. So perhaps this is the result of combining different versions? I think you can hear it when the other vocal elements and instruments dip in and out of the song.

The accompanying video adds another lovely dimension. The costumes here show a lot of creativity with a limited budget. They look great, first of all, but the pieces that make up the costume (brooms, tote bags, dusters, pill bottles, funnels) transform, as does the costumed actor — they don’t look like they’re costumes so much as an organic extension of the character. The pieces and colors made me think of Matthew Barney and Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Katamari Damacy, too. It’s giddy, gorgeous work. The video was directed by Ben Dickinson.