Last year the venerable The Psychedelic Furs returned with ‘Made of Rain’ – making it on Backseat Mafia’s list of top fifty albums of 2020 and in my view one of their best albums. In my 9/10 review I wrote it was a contemporary album for the modern times and while it has all the hallmarks of the Furs we know and loved, it has carved out its own place in the contemporary pantheon of indie music.
The band has now released a video for the anthemic track ‘Wrong Train’ – a black and white cinematic piece that reflects the dystopian theme of the song – melancholy, bleak and discombobulated:
I took the wrong train
Got off the wrong town
They beat their kids up
Somewhere suburban
And even in the dark imagery there are flashes of humour:
I ran the wrong light
Got in a car crash
A wife that hates me
So does her boyfriend
Produced and directed by Hans Neleman, the shots are beautifully crafted and enigmatic – iconic singer Richard Butler’s face up front and distorted, at times covered in mud and in pain. Butler says:
Wrong Train’ continues the black and white textured, mysterious feel of the previous videos from ‘Made Of Rain’. It was a pleasure working along with Hans Neleman on this project. The creativity Hans, Peter Sebastian and their team brought shows in every frame. Much like in paintings, imagery in this video is altered to where it is seen in an entirely different way.
Neleman drew on Butler’s own paintings for inspiration:
‘Wrong Train’ explores the theme of a disintegrating relationship and the idea was to deliver something rooted in a more abstract realm rather than illustrating the lyrics literally. I photographed and filmed Richard while painting his face as if he were delivering an art performance
The song itself is celestial with Butler’s distinctive vocals ringing out and the guitars slicing with an angry buzz-saw blast.
‘Made Of Rain’ was produced by Richard Fortus with The Psychedelic Furs, whilst mixing duties were handled by Tim Palmer (David Bowie, U2, Robert Plant). The album is available on CD, Double Gatefold vinyl, digitally download and stream here.
The Psychedelic Furs play seven rescheduled UK shows during September and October as part of the European leg of the Made Of Rain Tour. Tickets for all UK shows are available now from: https://www.axs.com/uk/artists/104875/the-psychedelic-furs-tickets
The full dates are:
September
27th Bristol O2 Academy **
28th Nottingham Rock City **
29th Glasgow SWG3 **
October
1st Manchester Academy 2 **
2nd Liverpool Academy **
3rd London Royal Albert Hall *
5th Cambridge Junction **
Supports:
- Jah Wobble & The Invaders of the Heart
** Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls
Feature Photograph: Matthew Reeves
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