We are ardent republicans here in AUK Towers but that doesn’t stop us being big fans of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, maybe because of the quotes around the offending article, and while we still haven’t forgiven Domino for not sending us his new album ‘Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You’ we’re happy to share with you today a new song which didn’t make the cut for the album – a la Madonna’s ‘Rebel Heart’ since it’s the title track, and as the press release notes, “It stands marvellously on its own. When heard in concert, it provokes questions like, where is that song and how can I have it? You don’t have to consult the almanac or pretend to understand time and seasons – mostly, you just have to live them.”
‘Keeping Secrets will Destroy You’ features Oldham, Shahzad Ismaily, Emmett Kelly, Jim Keltner and Blake Mills, and features the singing of Lacey Guthrie, Katie Peabody and Heather Summers. The video, directed by Adam Laity, transports the viewer to some breathtaking natural landscapes in a few short minutes. Speaking on the concept of the video, Laity writes: “Will sent me the demo for “Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You” about a year ago. I found the song so romantic – the idea of chucking a suitcase in car and heading off on a journey with a lover. And also the humility in the idea of being unable to grow old if we don’t come to terms with our faults, in the way that only someone you’re in love with can reveal to you. Agnes Varda said ‘If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes.’ The video is really about the affective resonance that landscapes can have for us, that sometimes last our whole lives. It started with the idea of clouds passing over Will’s face, and really it just grew from there. I wasn’t particularly interested in the video ‘making sense’, but rather it was about trying to visualize the energy and flow of the song.”
Additionally, BPB has launched a Destroy You, Keeping Secrets Will beer with independent Kendal brewery Gan Yam. Their brewer Jonathan Le Mare said of the collaboration: “As soon as Will mentioned he was keen to have a beer with medicinal properties we knew this was a project we’d love to be involved in. Looking for something that fitted the bill we landed on yarrow which is a plant that has been used since ancient times in brewing beer long before hops were used, in part, for its many and varied healing properties. With great serendipity Will happened to have some yarrow growing in his garden and reported back on a cup of tea he made, saying it was ‘fascinating and lovely’, this felt like all the confirmation we needed that we were on the right track. The final beer is a 6.1% sour yarrow gruit, gruit being the term for a beer made without hops. The yarrow has a green tea like quality and the beer itself is delicate and very refreshing. This is a beer we are very proud of and it’s been great to have the opportunity to brew such a historical and interesting beer alongside Will.”
Keeping Secrets Will Destoy You is available to buy on Dom Mart-exclusive rose-coloured vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally. You might not find the beer down your local Tesco however.
