Video: Ondara “A Nocturnal Heresy”

Photo credit: Nate Ryan

The latest single from Ondara is the gorgeous ‘A Nocturnal Heresy’.  The accompanying performance video is brilliantly directed by Nate Ryan – the camera zooms in and out and pans around Ondara as he fills the space with sound and character.  Ondara’s lyrics are like free-form poetry: “She was always but a metaphor // For my spiritual path…She was always but a miracle // The scientist kind // Her man was a neanderthal // With pain came design.”  As ever, Ondara’s vocal performance is simply stunning, rising and falling, then soaring in angelic melody over a thumping rhythm.

The single is taken from ‘Spanish Villager No: 3’, the upcoming album due out on 16th September 2022.  The album is based around a mysterious character with a potent message: the enigmatic Spanish villager of the title.  Initially, the character appeared in a short story Ondara wrote, which he then turned into a graphic novel before building a collection of songs around him.  Ondara has also announced a North American and European tour for the autumn, which includes a date at Lafayette in London on 23rd November.

Growing up in Nairobi, Ondara developed a love for Bob Dylan and other American roots musicians and dreamed of one day emulating his heroes.  As a youngster in Kenya, he could barely have imagined that he would become a GRAMMY-nominated artist himself, living in the USA, releasing critically-acclaimed albums and opening for acts like The Lumineers, First Aid Kit and Neil Young.  He often writes about his experiences far from home and he has, indeed, come a long way.  Ondara’s music is simply beautiful.

Check out ‘A Nocturnal Heresy’, a rhythmic, melodic joy, and previous single ‘An Alien in Minneapolis’, while you wait for the highly-anticipated new record.

About Andrew Frolish 1395 Articles
From up north but now hiding in rural Suffolk. An insomniac music-lover. Love discovering new music to get lost in - country, singer-songwriters, Americana, rock...whatever. Currently enjoying Nils Lofgren, Ferris & Sylvester, Tommy Prine, Jarrod Dickenson, William Prince, Frank Turner, Our Man in the Field...
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments