Seattle post-punk act Fotoform have released their video for Running, a track off of their second album, Horizons. The track is the first song the band wrote with the new lineup, which signaled a change in how the band expressed itself through sound and lyrics. Taking their name from a mid-century avant-garde photography movement, Fotoform creates melodic, gauzy, and driving post-punk. Longtime music collaborators (and married couple) Kim House (bass, vocals, synths) and Geoffrey Cox (guitar) are now joined by drummer Michael Schorr (Death Cab for Cutie, Long Winters).
“Running was written in the midst of a period of significant change and reflection,” says Kim House. “I had just left my role as Footwear Design Director at Nordstrom. It was a whirlwind of a job I held for many years – one which required lots of travel in the US and Europe, intense long hours, and barely enough room for other passions or pursuits. It was rewarding, but almost all encompassing.”
The intensity of the song is palpable, a funeral for a former self, a shedding of the proverbial exoskeleton to reveal painful growth and introspection. The emotive vocals wail over the plaintive backing track, a primal scream from within the dark night of the soul. The accompanying video, a kaleidoscope of colour and overlay, mimics the projection of positivity we share with the world, when the real nitty gritty is lurking within the shadow realm waiting for revelation and regeneration.
“At its core Running is about peeling back the layers to connect with your innermost self,” says Kim House. “Summoning the courage, patience and stillness to distill it down and uncover what truly matters, to listen to our hearts and tap into the subconscious. It’s about facing fears and insecurities and having the courage to go after what will truly make you happy (or “make your heart happy” as my dad would say), which oftentimes might be in the opposite direction of what we’re running toward, whether in relationships, life paths and choices, etc.”
Over the years, Fotoform have further refined their plaintive, bass-driven kinetic swoon. On their forthcoming release, the band updated their dark, left-of-the-dial moods and melodies, weaving in traces of The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and The Chameleons. Listeners can also hear shimmering tapestries of the Cocteau Twins, For Against, and Slowdive as well as contemporaries Drab Majesty and Soft Kill.
The band looks forward to getting back to touring and experiencing live music and are already writing songs for their next releases, including a split 7” with Savage Republic.
Watch the video for Running, directed by Erik Foster, below:
Order the album here.
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