Loneliness
Official video of the song from their full length Days Of Black, released on Trisol March 31, 2017
Directed by Zoe Kavanagh
Cinematography by Ismael Diarra
Edited by Zoe Kavanagh
Color Grading by Zoe Kavanagh
Produced by Thomas Andrew Quain
“We wear the mask that grins and lies. It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes. Why should the world be over wise in counting all our tears and sighs? The world is a veil of tears. It is getting worse by the years.” This lyric written for Loneliness would likely strike a nerve in people who spend much of their time on Facebook, Youtube and other social media networks and dealt firsthand with drama from attention seekers, extremists and so called social justice warriors. The net allows for people to slam people anonymously for lack of concern for being called out on it offline. Just another mask to add to those of money, status and materialism. And less room for us to relate to each other as real people. Clan Of Xymox convey the heightened reclusiveness I hear someone commenting on daily, and places a human face on the fallout it has on the average soul. I got wind of the German band from Laura Petellat-Entiwsle who recently spread word they have a New York City performance coming in March. It’s at Saint Vitus Bar and tickets are reportedly sold out. They play electronic gothic music influenced by Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Pixies and Throwing Muses. My first impressions of this song is that it resonates with an early 80s new wave sound, mixed with some Cure, Sisters Of Mercy and She Wants Revenge. In the 1990s I heard a lot of goth and ambient music, with this as a further basis of comparison Loneliness is notably more commercial but doesn’t head too close to the mallgoth audience or become stereotypically petulant. Rather it has secure ties to goth’s lineage and furthermore embodies one facet of their work. I took time to listen to a few other songs recorded by them and each brought something different to the table. The video for this song is a narrative, or more accurately a short film, that moves farther away from what is visually expected from goth bands, presenting a brighter past recalled by the two central characters as if they were photographs in a museum. The stark contrast these images have with the sense of loss depicted is cleverly executed. The isolation felt by the characters is communicated through facial expressions and body language that hardly needs words. Though the lyrics reflect their inner anguish when one of them writes them out on walls or blackboards, establishing a connection between the film and the song it illustrates. The conclusion of the video should come as a surprise, but again it’s probably not what you would expect. -Dave Wolff
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