End Scene highly impressed us with their debut album ‘All My Ghosts‘ way back in 2021 and they are back with the shimmering ‘New’: a gentle reflective piece that wishes for a form of renaissance or rejuvenation, growth after a period of stagnation.
‘New’ is an ethereal and haunting track augmented by weeping strings and a steady ambulant flow, drenched in melancholy and sense of deep yearning. There are genetic strands in which the frail delicate vocals can be traced to Robert Forster and The Go-Betweens and a low fi sparkle filled with veracity and pain.
The perfectly lyrics capture the zeitgeist – It’s been so long since anything felt new – too much thinking about old times, thinking of you... – with a sense of ennuis and longing, a reflection of the feelings in our current times of stasis and entropy.
Singer/songwriter James Jennings says of the the track:
To paraphrase, and possible bastardise, the words of pre-slap Will Smith in ‘Men In Black II’, it’s about the dichotomy of feeling old and busted, as opposed to the new hotness. Being stuck in a monotonous routine is something I’m sure everyone can relate to, especially post-lockdowns, and this song, I guess, is a plea or a wish for something new to materialise and make the world seem exciting and full of possibilities again.
The accompanying video shot by Lily Jennings, Sarafina Pea, End Scene and produced, directed and edited by the band is an affable, charming performance piece capturing a sense of innocence and growth as the band slowly gets back into performance and playing. The travails of waking up after a long slumber and a hope to start again fresh and energised is a common theme after the vicissitudes of the past couple of years, and deep inside End Scene is a spark of resolution. Of course the band explains it slightly differently:
The video…tells the story of a musician who finds a JJBot 2000 android in the trash and decides to take it home to make some music with, soon figuring out there was a very good reason the glitchy andoid was left out for garbage collection in the first place.
A wry and amusing accompaniment to the music, nonetheless:
‘New’ is out now and available to stream and download here, and a new album has been promised to add to the excitement.
2 comments
Absolutely lovely. Thank you