Naarm/Melbourne producer Arty Ziff (nom de plume of Mitch Kelly) has teamed up with Brisbane musician/producer Lemonade Baby to produce a snaky ambient piece of electronica entitled ‘Rockstar’: a slightly tongue-in-cheek proclamation delivered over smooth bubbling syncopated rhythms and vocoder-touched smooth-as-velvet vocals.
As with his last released ‘Byebyebaby’ featured by us late last year, Arty Ziff has the ability to deliver candy-floss pop that has a touch of melancholic in the melody and a glint of humour in the eye. It’s a glossy-smooth track with a glorious vocals and layers of shimmering instrumentation that evokes long indolent and languid drives in the countryside in an open-topped car: sweeping an cinematic.
And yet the song is also celebratory – a paean to self fulfillment and transitory joy. Arty Ziff says of the track:
‘Rockstar’ to me is about the perfect night out, and for that one night you are a rockstar. Initially this song was meant to be an instrumental, but when Lemonade Baby got his hands on it, the track transformed into a party anthem.
The accompanying video, directed by Jam Nawaz and comedian Mark Samual Bonanno from Aunty Donna (who also stars in it), perfectly captures the tone. Arty Ziff says:
The video is inspired by two things. Iconic solo dancer video clips, (‘Weapon of Choice’ by Fatboy Slim, ‘Lonely Boy’ by The Black Keys) and the viral Techno Viking video. We find our protagonist either early morning or early night trying to find a secret party. But on the way there, he is dancing to his favourite song.
There is certainly an euphoric feel to the moves:
‘Rockstar feat Lemonade Baby’ is out now and available to stream and download here.
