elbow make available today a
further track from their forthcoming album, ‘Little Fictions’ together with a
landmark video. The short for ‘Gentle Storm’ is directed by the legendary Kevin
Godley and sees him revisit the iconic promo he directed in 1985 for Godley and
Creme’s ‘Cry’, a video that remains one of the touchstone examples of the
genre.
The idea to re-imagine the ‘Cry’
video came from lead singer Guy Garvey as he explains:
‘‘Gentle Storm’ reminded me of
something but I couldn’t work it out for a bit, the yearning and the sparsity
of the sound. When I worked out it was ‘Cry’ I asked the rest of the band if
they remembered the video cos it was such a seismic event as a kid. Pete and
Mark did but Craig didn’t and I realised that a lot of people wouldn’t know the
track or the video even though they were BOTH so important to me. So Kevin
Godley is a Prestwich boy and so am I so I thought ‘I’ll be a cheeky bastard
and get in touch with him and see if he is up for doing it again for our track.’
It was amazing that he was up for it. We got a load of our friends and family
involved so they ALSO are in it. The shoot day was incredible, video shoots can
be quite grim but it was such a great atmosphere that Kevin created and the
finished film is something we are amazingly proud to be involved with.’
Kevin’s initial reaction to that
call from Guy was puzzlement, but as he explains, he soon saw what could be
possible for all concerned.
‘When Guy Garvey called me and
said: “Would you consider recreating the ‘Cry’ video for our new song ‘Gentle
Storm’ I was a bit puzzled. Why would he want something that was already out
there? Then I realised… ‘out there’ really meant out there since 1985 and a
whole generation or three wouldn’t have seen the original, or have a clue who
Godley & Creme were, so to a world of millennials it would probably be “who
the fuck?”
I didn’t really have to direct
anyone - they all became suitably themselves as soon as the camera rolled.
Everything felt real, nothing felt forced and there were no fuck ups, no
tantrums and no 35 mm gates to check as we shot on 4K res digital video. In
fact the only difference between this shoot and Cry was the major technological
advance of steadying people’s heads with a sink plunger instead of a saucepan.’
‘Little Fictions’ has been hailed
as one of elbow’s finest albums to date, described as ‘silky and punchy and full of
sonic detail’ by Mojo
magazine in a four star review and regarded by Q as simply ‘another brilliant album’ adding a
further four stars.
To see the video for ‘Gentle
Storm’ go to http://vevo.ly/QdJ3Vm.
‘Gentle Storm’ and previously
released tracks from the album can be heard at https://open.spotify.com/artist/0TJB3EE2efClsYIDQ8V2Jk.
‘Little Fictions’ is released by
Polydor on 3rd February 2017 on Gatefold Vinyl, CD and digital
download. Those pre-ordering the album digitally will receive ‘Gentle Storm’,
‘Magnificent (She Says)’ and ‘All Disco’ immediately. A special edition boxset
of the album containing a bespoke book, CD LP and digital download of the album
is also available in limited quantities exclusively on the elbow store.
FOR MORE INFORMATION - LOUDHAILER PRESS
Lewis Jamieson lewis@loudhailerpress.com / 07718 652582 / @LewJam
