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Video Premiere: Twin River, “Settle Down”


July 15, 2016
Written by
Ashley Vaughn
Text by
Jamie Ludwig
Photo by
Grady Mitchell

Twin River formed in 2009 as a folk duo and has since expanded into a five-piece with a indie pop and garage rock sound. Following the June 17 release of its latest album, Passing Shade on Light Organ Records, Vancouver, BC-based group presents a video for the record’s standout track, “Settle Down.”

“Settle Down” is one of the darker songs on the record but it is also one of the most upbeat and energizing,” says Twin River singer/guitarist (and soon to be PhD) Courtney Ewan. “While that balance is something we tried to achieve throughout the overall record, this song in particular embodies that contrast: the juxtaposition between light and dark, rationality and spontaneity, youth and adulthood. In that sense, I think it’s a great representation of both the record and of where we are as a band.”

With “Settle Down,” articulating those contrasts turned out to be a bit of a process. “This song took a little more elbow grease than the other songs on the album, as far as narrowing the way we wanted it to feel and how best to get that across, but I’m really proud of it. It’s kind of like the problem child that turns out alright after a few tough teenage years.” The seamless balance between the song’s driving rhythms and Ewan’s reflective lyrics, and in its wistful, yet shimmery guitar leads prove the extra efforts were worth it.

For the song’s music video, Twin River commissioned Anthem Jackson, a Vancouver-based filmmaking duo comprised of Graham Kew and Dan Code, giving them almost total creative freedom outside of a request that they take an abstract, rather than linear, narrative direction. Kew and Code were traveling in the Netherlands at the time and decided to theme the video around two friends on a roadtrip. They hired actors Ariel Ladret and Stephanie Iszak, got hold of a vintage VW bus with questionable safety features and reliability, and shot the video with (their words) “shitty camcorders” from an old camera store in Amsterdam to create a home-recording vibe. “The shop owners thought we were crazy, but they sold [the cameras] to us for peanuts and it really gave the video its overall look. Playing with the tiny 10x toggle zoom is a really fun way to shoot, and it was only like 8gbs for all of the hours of footage we got,” says Kew.

Check out “Settle Down” below. Passing Shade is available for purchase now.

 

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