A song written with a certain optimism behind it can act as a life-affirming inspiration, in itself, to go out and do. But add visuals just as, if not more lively to the mix, and the result may very well be metaphysically exhilarating. Dam Gila, the acronymic moniker for the new project of Adam Gil (frontman of Chicago’s YAWN) go on a quest to quench a thirst for life in their video for “The Undertow”, off their Face the Sun EP, out April 1. The track is laden with good vibes, bright guitar tones with some psychedelic playfulness mixed in, and a pop rhythm that never really slows down. Gil offers up what potentially can be done in day, his exasperated vocals prodding, “isn’t there something else for me?” as though to ask if he just might be able to get the most out of his life. The “oh-whoa’s” of the chorus breathe life where you might not have known it to exist. Between verse, chorus and bridge, light reprieves instill contrasts between calm and excitement, relaxation and stimulation, though all spirited with Gil’s joie de vie.
The video itself, presented by Weird Life Films, and directed by Jackson James and Ryan Ohm, seamlessly meshes its retroactive film look (blurred imagery and weird colored negatives) with the audio, acting like a sonnet for the daylight, the opening still of a faceless figure throwing their hands up to celebrate the sunrise. The ensuing action is spirited, eclectic and wondrous, as friends hang on desert dunes, or maybe by a beach, playing music and jumping from trees, surfing down sand on their backs like kids on a makeshift playground slide. This life looks like a lot of fun.
