Following Amen & Goodbye's lead single "I Am Chemistry," Brooklyn trio Yeasayer have invited us deeper into their twisted world with a new music video for previously unheard single "Prophecy Gun" that gives life to the album art that had - up until now - been still.
Turning the full gatefold into a performance piece, the film explores the eclectic landscape created by sculptor and New York-based Canadian artist David Altmejd. Yeasayer describe it in a press release as "Sgt Pepper meets Hieronymous Bosch meets Dali meets PeeWee's Playhouse."
Opening with miniaturized Pyramids of Giza and a pool of blood turned watermelon puree, the bizarre trip through Amen & Goodbye's mise-en-scène carries you past Caitlyn Jenner animorphing into a butterfly, a severed and lacerated Donald Trump head (which was also visible in the background of "I Am Chemistry" as Yeasayer happily confirmed to Transverso), Mark Twain, an amusing heavy metal parody band poster for Yayslayer, and even the beloved alien from past classic "Madder Red," may he rest in peace.
Altmejd explains,
“I’m not very comfortable thinking about image and graphic design. I decided to offer them a sort of landscape filled with as many details as possible. I thought about a series of objects that would be inspired by characters that came from Yeasayer’s albums... but also characters that come from the news. There’s really fake looking sculptures, there’s printouts representing cartoony characters, there’s naked people… For me what’s very important is that the image offers enough visually for people to be really absorbed in the observation of details.”
As for the song itself, it opens with a lightly frenetic beat and ominously pulsing bass before vocals almost reminiscent of Paul Simon at his most soothing and twitching space synth are gently layered on.
Amen & Goodbye is due out April Fool's Day via Mute. You can revisit past teasers and preorder the record here.