Belly have returned after a long hiatus and are about to release their first album in 23 years. Called Dove, the album is due out on May 4th, and was recorded and produced by band member Tom Gorman alongside longtime band affiliate Paul Q. Kolderie (Throwing Muses, Radiohead, Hole). The first single to be taken from the album is Shiny One – a shuffling slice of indie rock, with these big Britpop like riffs playing against the woozy hue that hangs over the track. At the forefront is Tanya Donelly’s voice, still this thing of strong beauty as she breezes through the hooks and melodies.
Drummer Chris Gordon commented on the accompanying video:
I purchased a crow mask from Archie McFee a few years ago for a Halloween party that had an “enchanted forest” theme. I’m a lazy and dull human being so I just wore the mask and street clothes. In the party photos everyone looked magical and “enchanted” but I looked disturbing and wrong. I always wanted to do something with that.
After moving to a house surrounded by woods I started capitalizing on the space for Belly stuff, like the woodshed photo shoot, or the Hushabye Mountain photo series. When it became clear that we were calling the album DOVE and the suggestion that we produce our own video the masks were my first and only idea. I sent a brief pitch to the band saying “hey guys, what if we shoot a video and we all have bird heads?” The response was overwhelmingly affirmative. I purchased 3 more heads.
Due to scheduling I had to shoot each band member on their own – we used my garage as a studio space and the woods around my home for the ‘critter in the woods’ stuff and tree related b-roll.
I worked very closely with my good friend Jack McKenna as we processed the clips and together we arrived at an Andy Warhol layered silkscreen look that really seemed to match the hallucinogenic vibe and retro groove of the song. I have to give a ton of credit to Jack for pulling it all together.
Check it out, here
