The transatlantic WETDOG had been on hiatus for upwards of four years until their recent announcement of their long-labored over second LP Divine Times. The former Captured Tracks artists’ hiatus was due to other pursuits and general distance; WETDOG member Billy Easter elaborates:
Just as we were planning our 3rd US tour Becca [Gillieron] found out she was pregnant, that kind of put a halt to any imminent plans. A few months later Sarah [Datblygo] moved to New York. We recorded most of the album before she left, but yes distance and life in general proved to be a bit of an obstacle in terms of focus. We all got involved with other projects etc…. Over the past four years we sporadically worked on the album, we’d have a spurt of activity and get really excited and then our lives would take over again and the album was put on the back burner. When we heard that Upset The Rhythm wanted to release the album we got re-motivated, Sarah came over and we all got together to do the final mixes and add some parts here and there.
Upset The Rhythm, alluded to above, is the London-based record label/ artist collective that has previous been home to Future Islands, Deerhoof, and Gowns, among many others. UTR will be releasing Divine Times—the titular single off which has a new video out directed by Rosie Ridgway, filmed and edited by Billy Easter. The video footage for “Divine Times” comes from Easter’s filming of Rosie Ridgway’s art piece, “I’ve Told You A Thousand Times”. Easter adds:
The concept behind the work was based around those fleeting moments of total and complete abandonment and uninhibited euphoria, that can appear without reason or warning, moments where you feel free and optimistic, full of hope and elation. Then the sudden realisation and collapse of such a feeling, and how quickly it can be washed away and replaced by the monotony and reality of everyday life. This video aims to capture and illustrate that exact moment where the change occurs.
Those moments co-exist wonderfully with the brooding, hard-hitting black-pop of “Divine Times”. However, what Easter doesn’t account for in her quote is the almost peculiar perfection with which “Divine Times” fits with Ridgway’s video. Although originally not paired together, they become as one when such is done; there is a sense in which the pounding rhythm of “Divine Times” is the ontological opposite to the laconic movements of the character in the bath, and the setup of the visuals as a whole. However counter-intuitive, these two factors end up working supremely well together, and synthesize into an unexpected, vaguely terrifying, and engaging experience.
Divine Times is out May 4 via Upset The Rhythm. You can watch the video for “Divine Times” above.
