Audio Drome
Writer and director of The Orphanage scare up a Keane video
If you were playing a word association game and someone tossed out “Rue Morgue,” “Britpop” probably wouldn’t be the first word to claw its way up from the murky depths of your damaged psyche. However, UK alt-rock outfit Keane released a video this week that just happens to be horror-centric enough to earn it some space on the ol’ RM blog. Who knew?
The video for “Disconnected,” a track from the band’s upcoming album Strangeland (out next month from Interscope Records and probably not connected to the 1998 Dee Snider movie of the same name), was co-directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and Sergio G. Sánchez, who previously collaborated on the excellent 2007 Spanish creepshow The Orphanage. It’s an homage to ’70s horror flicks like The Shining and The Amityville Horror, and was shot in a Barcelona house that is supposedly home to a few restless spirits. It’s not the sort of music you’ll find on the third volume of our Hymns from the House of Horror (which you’re downloading, right?), but it’s interesting to see so much classic horror imagery juxtaposed with Keane’s treacly ruminations on failed relationships and feelings or whatever.
This video is particularly good on mute actually. If we could take it one step further and suck the band members completely out of the impressive visuals, it would be even better! I especially like the Shelley Duvall-ity of the female lead and the Kenneth Branagh-ness of the dude.
My first thought when the video started was, hey, maybe Keane got good. Then the song started and I realized it was just the directors. I wonder if their direction ever included, “Beautiful! Seriously, guys, that was awesome. Now let’s try it once more, only don’t be Keane this time.”