Lump is a new collaborative project from Brit award-winning singer-songwriter Laura Marling and sometime Tunng and Throws man Mike Lindsay. They’ve recorded a self-titled album that drops on 1st June via Dead Oceans, and from it they’re sharing a new video for album opener Curse of the Contemporary.
Starting out with this woozy electro-beat and intoxicating guitar, Marling begins her vocals with “If you should be bored in California / I’m sure I’m not the first to warn you,” and as the song progresses, her words drip with ever more cynicism for the new age: “We salute the sun / Because when the day is done / We can’t believe what we’ve become / Something else to prey upon.” There’s (suprisingly) a little shade of Joy Division in there, not as abrasive mind and with all the jerkiness and darkness ironed out and brightened up, but its still there in the melody, at least at the start. Marling throws her words and lines together as it follows its path, and drags it with her into this sort of lovable slacker pop.
The accompanying video was created by the motion graphics designer Esteban Diacono, who says of it
“For me it was very important that this video was respectful of the spirit of Laura and Mike’s collaboration. I wanted to create a video that was joyful and interesting while at the same time retaining an innocent and tender overall vibe. I also wanted to touch on some of the topics that were important to Laura’s lyrics, but under a different look. Visually, I took inspiration from the idea of California as a Dream Factory, from the idea of big movie sets that could transform themselves, give shape and colour to dreams and spark the imagination.
Check it out, here
