I had a date last night. Amongst our many scintillating topics of conversation that came about throughout the night one of those was the issue of dancing. She insisted that she had no talent for dancing, whilst I countered that anyone can do it as dance is the most honest form of artistic expression. Forget music for a second, forget painting and theatre and poetry. Dancing is where one is completely exposed.
Whether you’re the lead in Swan Lake or attempting the worm at your house party, it’s something we as human beings are drawn to. Throw a groovy tune on and a baby is bound to start bopping in their bouncer with a drooling smile on their face. This isn’t an extended humble brag, it’s a very loose introduction to the new video for Black Blood from The Ocean Party. Cue awkward segue.
Like a graceful swan, The Ocean Party dance up a storm in their new video for Black Blood. It’s time to shake that money maker like your mama taught you.
The Ocean Party have just churned out a cracker of a new album with Light Weight through Spunk Records this year. The band received plenty of love from fans and critics, including us, not to mention plenty of radio love and a spot at the musical Mecca known as BIGSOUND. Considering it is album numero five, it’s an admirable effort by the six piece that to keep their sound fresh and engaging. Black Blood is the second single off the record, and chances are you’re very familiar with it given how it’s been smashed on the airwaves by the good people at FBi.
Clean guitars wash over a haze of sighing backing vocals, wandering lyrics lost in a world of nostalgia and times gone by. It’s that feeling of something missing that comes through quite well in the video for Black Blood. Done in true DIY style, the clip is honestly just three guys, a leotard, a smoke machine and a pot plant, all slowed to half-time. Our hero begins his dance routine. It’s awkward and maintains little rhythm. He’s that guy in the middle of the dance floor who doesn’t give two fucks what song is playing, he’s just excited to dance. However it is his interactions with his surroundings that sell the concept.
It works because it appeals to the comforting, and more importantly, liberating nature of dance, the moment when a person chooses to shed any hesitation and move their body purely on instinct. The slow burn nature of the video makes the climax of the clip all the more enjoyable
The band’s next show will be going down when they ring in the new year at the New Year’s Evie party at Tallarook, Victoria. They’ll be playing alongside the likes of Pearls, Sui Zhen, High Tension and Broadway Sounds, so it’ll be a killer night.
