Photo by Kourosh Erfanian
From behind the scenes of global metropoles, a concealed elite is whispered to nurture a disconcerting ambition: converting the intricacies of the human essence into malleable data bytes. Amid the dazzle of modern technology, they subtly intertwine surveillance with our daily conveniences. While society lauds each new digital stride, one must discern: are these milestones of progress…or chains in a digital snare?
In a triumphant return, avant-garde virtuoso Blone Noble (aka Pat Salway) unveils his third single under Curation Records, Leaders of The World. This blistering anthem lampoons the ruling cadre’s agenda to blur the lines between the advancement and the potential diminishment of our core humanity, prompting us to query the true cost of our connected age.
“Leaders Of The World” weaves a fervent tableau with its rumbling piano and glittering synthesizers, evoking the nocturnal allure found in “Nite Flights” by The Walker Brothers, the drama of piano-fueled late-70s Berlin glam rock, and the sharp vivacity of New Wave. Leaders Of The World‘s stomping beat may very well become the anthem of our unsettled age, capturing the restless and wary ethos of contemporary society.
Channeling the biting cadence reminiscent of Lou Reed, Blone offers his fierce lyrical commentary on this global war instigated by the ruling elite to distill humanity into malleable fragments of information. For Blone, the onus is on the citizenry to thwart this looming dystopia.
Rekindling a dynamic partnership with Fred Joseph, who previously lensed his inaugural single Weapon Of Love, Blone Noble revisits their shared cinematic vision. Filmed with the vintage charm of ‘70s RCA broadcast television cameras in the quaint backdrop of Sun Valley, CA, the video is a nostalgic nod to the pre-music video era art films, a time when unbridled creativity was the order of the day.
In a time when digital filters aim to replicate vintage aesthetics, witnessing genuine analogue technology in action is both rare and mesmerizing. Dusting off these classic tools and harnessing them anew imparts the music with a resplendent, temporal authenticity—it’s as if one is transported, embraced by the warm haze of distant recollections. The real deal, indeed, offers a vividness that mere simulations can seldom match!
“All of the effects were done in camera with Fred twisting the knobs on archaic video gear and something that looked like a fuzz pedal,” Noble explains. “The Big Brother splitting-head was a happy accident, perfectly aligned with the message of the song. The entire thing was an experiment meant for maximum sensory overload, like the one we’re living through now.”
Get hypnotized below:
Embarking on his musical voyage as Blone Noble in 2021, Salway was accompanied by his wife Marlena’s steady bass and Brendan Peleo-Lazar’s dynamic drumming. This three-piece ensemble laid down their basic tracks live at Figment Sounds, nestled in Toluca Lake, with Rob Campanella—famed for his work with Brian Jonestown Massacre—maneuvering the engineering controls and sharing production duties. Synth embellishments were recorded interchangeably at Figment Sounds and Blone’s Hollywood Hills residence, a location steeped in history as the erstwhile library of the Theosophy temple, known as Krotona of Old Hollywood.
Listen to the single below via Bandcamp:
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