Check out Daphne Guinness. The release of her new and fourth album, Sleep, via Agent Anonyme Recordings.
Daphne: “Volcano is one of the first songs I wrote with my writing partner Malcolm Doherty. I remember being on a train in Germany and observing a furtive man with a suitcase and my imagination went straight to Marlene Deitreich in Shanghai Express. As I pulled into Hamburg in the driving North Sea rain, my thoughts ran wild: what was in that suitcase? I’ve always been interested in espionage and spy movies, and imagery from the clandestine world of the ’30s made for a compelling juxtaposition with its electro/dance sound.”
Contemplative, self-reflective, and personal, it represents her most beguiling body of work to-date; a sleek sophisticated experience enhanced by an array of esoteric creative touches, complementing its dancefloor rush. Today’s announcement is accompanied by the new single, Volcano, and her latest visual collaboration with iconic filmmaker and photographer David LaChapelle.
Volcano leaps between eras: referencing the mystery of Weimer-era underground clubs. It finds Daphne, with her cut-glass English accent, embodying a secret agent in “nothing but my trench coat”, set against a backdrop of ’60s surf guitar, disco, and pioneering electronica. Like much of Daphne’s music, the track also features unconventional sonics: including a tinkling, metallic percussion sound captured by dropping a piece of low-density aerogel onto a glass surface.
Says David, “Working with Daphne is like stepping into another era of music, when things were not done by committee and it wasn’t just about selling units, it was about collaborating and creating artistic album covers and videos. The freedom and trust she gives me is unparalleled, aside from my own projects — it’s always such a unique and fabulous experience. The end result is as beautiful and as glamorous as the process. In Volcano you can see the sense of humour and the joie de vivre that people don’t necessarily know that Daphne possesses.
“I’m pulling that out in this video — the song inspired that. Daphne is not as serious as people would think, and it’s great to show what a true artist and collaborator she really is. She makes her art and music for all the right reasons.”
David LaChapelle’s video for Volcano opens with the arresting sight of Daphne hurtling into the airbag of a car before unfolding into a visual feast of surrealist visions. At first glance it feels like a celebration of the excesses and decadence of the fashion world, but it gradually degenerates into a nightmarish satire of the industry’s darker tropes. It represents a rare foray back into music videos for LaChapelle, after previously helming the singles Evening In Space, Revelations I, II & III and Heaven for Daphne.
It has been nine years since he last directed a video for another artist: Hozier’s unforgettable Take Me To Church.
Daphne says, “This album encompasses my world view at this moment, I’m looking back and looking forward at the same time. I think that music is an equaliser in so many ways. It’s a way to get a message through in the weird times that we’re living in. Every album is an education.”
Enjoy < Big Love HEY GIRL xx
Album Sleep to be released on April 19, 2024
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