Nothing – “Blue Line Baby” Video
Philadelphia shoegaze quartet Nothing are shifting their outlook on the horrors and suffering that surround us. On their forthcoming third LP Dance On The Blacktop, Nothing are trading prior cynicism for a will to endure. We heard lead single “Zero Day” last month alongside our cover story on the band, and today they share “Blue Line Baby,” along with a striking video.
Like the album, the new song is influenced by the ’90s in sound and subject. Chugging guitars and gravely vocals tell a story about the opioid outbreak that took place in the Kensington/Frankford area of North Philadelphia during the early ’90s, with lyrics highlighting specific street names and landmarks. “Looking around at the friends and family that are still around that came from down there, I’ll always be touched by what can come out of all that chaos and suffering,” Frontman Domenic Palermo explains in a statement. “Children forced to learn loss early, faced with immeasurable odds and all the while this train continually hovers over your head, taunting you with its irony that there wasn’t a way out.”
The Ricardo Rivera-directed video is based around Shakespeare’s Ophelia, using Sir John Everett Millais’ painting of the same name — which depicts the death of Ophelia — as its base. It begins with Ophelia smoking a cigarette at a gas station. “MISSING” flyers cover the wall behind her. She then wanders through a foggy forest, moving toward enchanting lights and joining the missing people, who happen to be the members of Nothing. Watch the “Blue Line Baby” video, which was formerly an Apple Music exclusive, below.
Dance On The Blacktop is out 8/24 via Relapse. Pre-order it here.