Vancouver-based Frazey Ford releases a magical and moving video for the title track from her recent album.
Establishing her folk and Americana credentials with the hugely popular Be Good Tanyas, Frazey Ford’s solo career has moved on from the traditional country sounds and sweet harmonies that made the Be Good Tanyas so widely popular. Still blessed with that distinctive, warm voice, Ford’s music has developed into her own smooth crossover of chilled-out soul and Americana.
‘U kin B the Sun‘ is a fine example of her recent output, with its stripped down piano, bass and drum groove leaving acres of space for Ford’s gorgeous vocals to have free rein. The track builds gently and there’s not much more to the song than the sparse instrumentation and some lovely harmony vocal lines underscoring Ford’s vocal, but the hypnotic arrangement and the ethereal nature of her voice are more than enough to hold the attention to the final fade out.
For this video, Ford has collaborated with co-directors and animators Caroline Ballhorn and Brian Lye, and it opens with a barrage of images of distance galaxies that sets the otherworldly tone. Shot using vintage film lenses and employing all analogue visual effects, the video looks superb, but it’s the stunning locations that really grab the attention. The video features Ford and her teenage son, Saul, exploring the landscapes of Gabriola Island, British Columbia, the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw nation.
The relentless ocean has carved out astonishing rock formations that heighten the senes of being in an alien landscape and provide the starkest of contrast with the island’s lush, green rainforests. Against these worn-smooth, lunar-style rockface backgrounds and the wind-battered treeline, Ford gives a characteristically intense performance. A mix of motion graphics and simple cut-out animation provide very effective transitions from the contrasting landscapes.
Ford’s transformation from old-timey folk to this intense, blissed-out neo-soul/Americana crossover is striking, but it seems to be going from strength to strength.
