Christopher Coleman & The Great Escape provided an eloquent and moving finale to 2021 with the expansive and beautiful single ‘Paloona’ (reviewed here), and we are absolutely delighted to be able to provide an exclusive look at the video for the follow up single ‘Amelia’. The single comes in anticipation of the band’s forthcoming album ‘The Great Tasmanian Escape’, a semi-autobiographical affair, narrating a decade in the life of protagonist Jesse after he returns from serving in the Middle East.
‘Amelia’ has a raw earthiness and sincerity that seemingly reflects the landscapes and shines with a brittle edge. Framed by horns, Coleman’s poetic lyricism is evocative, filled with a sense of yearning and romanticism over a clattering, sparse percussive rhythm – a faltering heartbeat under the skin. The timbre and tone take the form of a slow burning dance: infused with a folk tradition that twirls in the dust and yet sparkles with a certain urban wryness.
The lyrics are evocative and filled with a sense of poignancy, reflecting the themes of the album:
The sunset told me only of a future not alone
The champagne glass cracked at last
The wine had overflowed
Amelia
Amelia
Holds the broken glass
Coleman says of the track:
‘Amelia’ is a gorgeous little waltz… another musing on the story forever told; of love being the crux and only true inspiration to embrace and make proper change. I whittled this tune out on my 30th birthday, it was all champagne and five stars. But not so long after I gave up the drink and on the release of this tune, it’s nearly two years to the day. A good move.
The accompanying video perfectly reflects a sort of innocence and simplicity of love and rural angst. Coleman says of the video, directed by Gabriel Morrison,
The film clip was made in autumn and we used my old caravan sitting on my parents block. ‘Amelia’ begins in my favourite pub and my best friend from college played ‘Amelia’. The whole thing is as wonderfully sentimental as I am.
Morrison (from Lucid Dream) says of the video:
Chris gave me a copy of the unreleased record when I approached him to do a music video in 2018 and I was immediately drawn to Amelia. We crafted a somewhat abstract visual narrative that supported and built on the themes of the song centred around a love story set in the 80’s in the Tasmanian wilderness, following a forestry worker and a waitress who have recently met but the nature of their work separating them and exploring the anxieties that arise in a new relationship.
It is beautiful crafted and shot, filled with a sense of isolation and anxiety amongst love in a rural setting.
‘Amelia’ is set for release on Thursday, 13 January 2022.
Coleman and his super group of musicians includes a who’s who of Tasmanian resident musicians including Glenn Richards (Augie March), the late and much lamented Mike Noga (The Drones), Stu Hollingsworth (EWAH and the Vision of Paradise) and Kelly Ottaway (The Stitch).
The album is produced by Glenn Richards and is out on Friday, 25 February 2021. You can pre-order below.
Feature Photograph: Jacob Collings
1 comment