"Yonder Blue" may well be one of the weirder pieces on post-rock ensemble Tortoise's new The Catastrophist LP, mainly because it finds the band ditching wildly polyrhythmic tendencies in favour of a soulful slow jam arrangement featuring lead vocals from Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley. Perhaps even more bizarre is the new music video for the piece, which attempts to reveal how, at the end of the day, we're nothing more than sheep.
As you'll see down below, the Joe Martinez-directed clip stars a woman who spends her days strolling through meadows or staring at the ocean. Sometimes, she'll gaze longingly at a flock of woolen compatriots. Later, she hits up a bar with some friends, with her true nature revealed ahead of a long bus ride home.
Martinez explained in a statement of his approach to the single:
When I listened to 'Yonder Blue' over and over again I felt a sense of longing and melancholy; a feeling of infinite want or a yearning for something. So I decided to personify this feeling into a character for the 'Yonder Blue' video. A person in pursuit of her identity and a journey that has the feeling of being incomplete; a snapshot of an existential journey and a moment to revel in the undefined qualities of life.
You'll find the clip below, while Tortoise's North American tour schedule behind The Catastrophist can be found here.
As you'll see down below, the Joe Martinez-directed clip stars a woman who spends her days strolling through meadows or staring at the ocean. Sometimes, she'll gaze longingly at a flock of woolen compatriots. Later, she hits up a bar with some friends, with her true nature revealed ahead of a long bus ride home.
Martinez explained in a statement of his approach to the single:
When I listened to 'Yonder Blue' over and over again I felt a sense of longing and melancholy; a feeling of infinite want or a yearning for something. So I decided to personify this feeling into a character for the 'Yonder Blue' video. A person in pursuit of her identity and a journey that has the feeling of being incomplete; a snapshot of an existential journey and a moment to revel in the undefined qualities of life.
You'll find the clip below, while Tortoise's North American tour schedule behind The Catastrophist can be found here.
