Following the announcement of his new album ‘Aforger,’ released earlier this month via Erased Tapes Records (home to Nils Frahm), electronic artist Douglas Dare has shared his sombre second song – already deemed by many as a masterpiece, and accompanying new video ‘Oh Father’ from his forthcoming album.
‘Oh Father’ is a genuinely heartfelt, and instinctual personal latest offering. It depicts the tragic situation of Douglas coming out to his father, and as a consequence both him and his male lover being rejected by him. The accompanying visuals filmed in one continuous take, are incredibly intense, yet also entirely simple – shot in one continuous take by Jeremy Carne and Nikolas Kasinos, it places sole emphasis on the composer’s own performance.
Speaking about the track, Dare comments: “Oh Father is certainly the most personal song I’ve put out in to the world and the subject is a sensitive one, so I felt any visuals we created had to respect this. I wanted something that wouldn’t distract from the song itself; the lyrics are quite purposefully unambiguous and are direct, so we chose to do a single-shot that would intensify the song and not allow the viewer up for air. The audience will read what they will in to the video and, I hope too, the song; for me they are both honest.”
Directors Jeremy Carne & Nikolas Kasinos shed some light on the visuals “Through movement we explore a dynamic of control between two bodies, an equilibrium which becomes unbalanced by separation but eventually returns to a state of symbiosis, symbolising an eternally recurring cycle. A metaphor for multifarious relationships structures. There is an unconscious pull towards the unknown, manifested by a mysterious figure which represents both another side of the self and abandon to an other. Opposing forces; a binary of interdependent bits. Although connected conflict exists within the duality, a struggle of attachment and acceptance.”
Watch & hear ‘Oh Father’ here:
In a digital age, where memories are mimicked by pixels and identity is as malleable as static, Douglas Dare’s new album Aforger questions the boundaries between reality and fiction.
Inspired by recent events and revelations encountered in his life these songs depict Dare at his most vulnerable, whilst simultaneously reflecting our own obsession with reality and technology back at us.
“The album title plays with the idea of a forger – someone creating imitations or copies, and reimagines them as the creator of something that’s no longer real” he explains. “Prior to writing the record, I came out to my father and came out of a long relationship, both were hugely challenging for me and questioned my idea of identity and reality. These thoughts leaked out into the record and formed the core of Aforger. I was determined not to write a break-up album or repeat what I’d done before.”
Having first toured the world to support of the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and Fink, this autumn will see Douglas Dare return to Europe, and includes a London show, in support of Wild Beasts. Somehow, in the midst of the misery, Dare seems to find some sort of solace, and for the listener, it frankly feels refreshing to hear an artist still pouring their soul into their music these days.
Links:
Pre-order ‘Aforger’
aforger.com
douglasdare.com
facebook.com/douglasdaremusic
@douglasdare
instagram.com/douglasdare
erasedtapes.com
