Now go meet your friends by the estuarine Thames
It’s somewhere over . . .
Over there!
Silent Star, a coldwave/synthpop duo from London comprised of Patrick Barrett and Andrew Bowker, announce the release of a gorgeous monochromatic video for The Estuary Shore, out today. The epic ballad starts out slowly plodding through lower frequencies, before bursting into a glorious, expansive chorus. Its subject: local anthropology.
“It is a love song for subterranean London,” says Barrett. “…Specifically, the many buried rivers that still flow beneath the streets, anonymous and forgotten, but whose existence can still be traced…sometimes through the marks they have left on the landscape, sometimes through the streets that still bear their names, and very occasionally when they can still be heard as they pass through the drains and below manhole covers. The song tells the story of the attempt to find them.”
Silent Star make easy sonic comparisons to Clan of Xymox, Joy Division, Marc Almond and Psyche, but the lyrical subject material has equally introspective bedfellows with fellow poet historians The Divine Comedy (Eric The Gardener) and Frank Tovey (Grand Union).
The video for The Estuary Shore, directed by Ian Mann, brings to mind the work of Anton Corbijn with its stark contrast and sweeping landscapes. This video was filmed on the roof of the Young & Cold studios in Augsburg, Germany, but also utilises monochrome archive film of Modernist and Brutalist architecture in London. The stark sound of Silent Star itself is emotive of the monolithic Brutalist style – underestimated and overpowering. Modern shots of London streets in which the rivers of the song flow make their cameos, eventually leading us to the shore where they emerge.
“Ian’s modus operandi is finding unique locations to film bands in, which for us meant the roof of a pub in north London (entirely appropriate),” quips Barrett. “The only problem was that we ended up filming in sub-zero temperatures, on a roof covered in snow. This can be definitely be seen in my face.”
Watch below and thaw your soul with this icy gem:
Now signed to Young & Cold Records, who released their first 12″ EP, The Cross Of Stamford Hill, the band spent autumn recording in the Young & Cold studio in Germany. The Estuary Shore was recorded and produced by Daniel Hallhuber in the Young & Cold studio in Augsburg, Germany.
The Estuary Shore is a beautiful tribute to time-bending and being mindful of our ancestors – be they spirits along the Thames or other shores on this planet. Though the paths have changed, we still share their footsteps.
Listen below:
Silent Star have headlined at the legendary London goth night Slimelight, supported Xeno & Oaklander, The KVB, and M!R!M, and in autumn, completed a tour of Germany and Austria.
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