By Charlie Maybee
This reading of Alchemical Records content provides a multimedia experience for our audience while increasing the accessibility of our content to persons with hearing loss, low vision, dyslexia, physical or motor disabilities, or are on the autism spectrum.
Northern Virginia-based post punk band, Outerloop, released the psychedelic new music video for “Seeping Mirrors” on December 13. Featuring a lot of shadow play and doubling filters, this is the kind of music video you get automatically entranced by. It has the sensation of aimlessly floating on an electric current, one that is easy to get swept up and lost in.
There is a particular ambience to the beginning of the track that gives it the feel of shoegaze, but the wild warping effects in the video editing allow for more immediate movement and drive. As the composition swells, the lead vocalist maintains a distinct tenderness, which adds a lullaby feel to the verses and the electric drive of the chorus as it reaches its climax.
For most of the song, we only see the band in fragments with shots of one member at a time, each lost in the individual groove they contribute to the tidal wave of sound. Toward the end, we finally pull back to see the full band together as they thrash around through strobing lights. The whole package is a cathartic release, as it adds some visual echo of each band member’s body allowing for the size of their movement to be doubled in both size and duration. It’s well worth the trip if you can let yourself be taken by its overwhelming force.
“Seeping Mirrors” is available on all major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. This track has been added to our Alchemical Weekly YouTube Playlist.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
