Triptych

I couldn't decide which to post, so here's three new(ish) singles and videos from Arab Strap, Depeche Mode and Beth Gibbons all at once.

 

First up, it's Aidan Moffat, Malcolm Middleton and gang with Strawberry Moon from the upcoming - and brilliantly titled - album I'm totally fine with it 👍don't give a fuck anymore Vampires, werewolves, Aidan as a priest on a mobility scooter with "I 💔 Jesus" bumper sticker...my favourite video of the three. Sadly, another band that I will have to miss live this time around due to the embarrassment of pre-festival gigs landing locally during May but I'm looking forward to hearing the album when it's released on 10th May.

 

Unless I blinked and missed it, no sign of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore in the video for Depeche Mode's People Are Good, the umpteenth single from last year's Memento Mori album, which I still haven't bought...call myself a fan?! Anton Corbijn is credited as creative director and the video itself is directed by Rich Hall, not the taciturn American polymath but a London based creator working with Riff Riff Films. All the Corbijn characteristics are there, but it's an interesting, narrative-based departure from the Mode videos I'm more familiar with. The song's pretty good too, though I'm less excited by the slew of remixes accompanying the single release.

 

Finally, and the newest of the lot, is a second preview of Beth Gbbons' solo album with Reaching Out. This is least engaging video for me, reminiscent (possibly intentionally) of the visuals that the Future Sound Of London and the like were producing 30-odd years ago. There is an interactive version too, which didn't do a lot for me either to be honest. However, the music and Beth's voice are just breathtaking. I'd love to see the movie that this is the theme song to.

Beth's album, Lives Outgrown, is out on 17th May. That's 36 days if, like me, you're counting.