Sydney's Convaire taught us the language and art of bright speech shared through song the other day with their single, "Talk in Technicolour", and proudly present the premiere of the short-film music video courtesy of the Entropico film collective. Turning heads in Australia since circa 2010; John Towey, Liz Slattery, Jane Slattery, Dan Talbot, Nick Coppola make their own brand of UK by EU indie pop that is given the neo-noir video treatment.
Wildnerness wandering, met with dark end of the street enthusiasm sets the scenes. The technicolor discussions between a decked out pair are shared in a 70s kitsch motel on a moonless night, interspersed with our suited male protagonist running and walking through forests and valleys. Like an arty slice of modern seedy fiction, few things are fully explained in this video adaptation. Where is the couple come from, where does the femme fatale disappear to, and what about the image erasing Polaroid? What we know and see is a lively conversation occurring between the two, bubbly enjoyed in coffee mugs, pillow cushion battles, rounds of Twister, and alluring insinuations all point to one's man ongoing search for the one that got away. Let Convaire's heroic synth shine guide your paths, dear self-deputized detectives.
The state of the being and drive of "Talk in Techniclour" is embedded in the self-explanatory chorus: "Because when I wake up I'm a rolling stone, but by the evening I just come undone, I get the feeling when I hold your hand, I'd tell you darling if you understand, when you talk in technicolor, I'm on my own…" Paired and placed with the mystery motel meeting and dissappearance visuals; the mixed technicolor signals symbols, along with rural wandering searches enhance the song's plays on the derelict, the desperate, the debutantes, and the destitute.
We tracked down the Convaire folks to discuss the film-noir video focus, and how we can better "Talk in Technicolour".
What is the key to talking in technicolor?
Being captivating. The title and line from the chorus is describing somebody who is vibrant, contagious, and fascinating when you engage with them. Whether that is something anybody can just be, we're not so sure—you either have it or you don't.
What was adapting the "dressed like a Hollywood heathen" dapper dance sensibility to a mysterious motel tryst that sends the protagonist out on a alienating nature adventure?
We got the impression that Entropico [the production house behind the video] really picked up on the 'Hollywood heathen' line from the song and ran with it for a lot of aspects of the video. A lot of people that we've shown the video to get caught up in the ending with it's twist and question marks, but an appealing aspect for us when settling on this concept was how the two characters ended up in such a location. We really liked the over the top idea of two people dressing up playing out a fairytale with each other in a shabby and rundown setting. To us it feels light hearted and playful, but also weird and uncomfortable at the same time.
What is the Back to the Future-esque story behind the femme fatale's disappearance from the Polaroid picture?
We like to leave that open to your own interpretation – even the four of us within the band and people we have shown the video to have differing ideas of what actually 'happens' in the video. Is there a supernatural element? Or is there an aspect of 'mind playing tricks' on a character? It's intentionally ambiguous and we'd hate to ruin peoples views with our own explanations of her disappearance. There are clues throughout the the video that point to a variety of different possibilities.
Was the single "Talk in Technicolour" made as a kind of song for solitude, an "I'm on my own" that seeks to be "by your side" to avoid the "coming undone" of the night's loneliness?
In a sense yes – loneliness and longing for something lost is definitely a big aspect of the lyrics. The song is also about being infatuated with someone, and as a result totally dedicated to them which puts a more positive spin on it. However the video definitely does play on the darker aspects of the lyrics, bringing out these themes solitude and loneliness that are definitely there.
Convaire's Talk in Technicolour singles are available now with word of an album available in early 2014.
