Beginning with a gentle strum before steadily building towards a dramatic crescendo, here is the excellent video premiere of ‘Chiron, Galactus’ by Trevor Sensor, who possesses a voice of outstanding character and emotional power. The surprising source of inspiration for the song was the blood-spattered revenge-horror move ‘Mandy’, starring Nicholas Cage. Sensor had not known what to expect from the film but, after watching it with a group of friends, he was so affected by the tale of violent vengeance that he wrote ‘Chiron, Galactus’ in its entirety in under an hour. He explains: “It’s one of those magic songs that just comes to you. You become a vehicle for whatever strange power that’s out there to work through you. Some deep melancholic anguish rose up in me, and everything came out fully formed. The pain was not subjective, but shared.”
That sense of pain and traumatic loss comes through in both the song and video. Visually simple and direct, the video focuses on Sensor’s portrait, emphasising his vocal, before the camera pans down and we see that he is bound to a chair, unable to prevent the story’s horrific events. Through the lyrical narrative, he takes on the role of Cage’s suffering character, Red, who goes on to seek revenge. The sonic tension matches the sense of threat in the lyrics, sweeping us along in this cinematic tale. Sensor explains the themes of the movie and song: “It functions as this perfect allegory of the dichotomy between those who want to be left alone, and those who can’t leave people alone. Red and Mandy are just trying to get on with their lives peacefully in the woods away from everybody, and these Jesus Freaks and Acid Cannibals barge in destroying their world because of one guy’s fragile ego. That’s pretty much the catalyst to all the problems of the world if you think about it. Those who seek to impose their Will upon others are often the worst of us, because it’s a reflection upon their own character – their insecurity with their own existence. They feel the need to master others because they can’t master themselves.”
This is the second single from upcoming new album ‘On Account Of Exile Vol.1’, which is due to be released on 18th June 2021. The follow-up to the well-received 2017 album ‘Andy Warhol’s Dream’, the new record has been described as, “…a collection of rural tales by an aged and imaginative drifter.” That Sensor achieves this sound and creates this impression is an achievement in itself for a singer-songwriter still in his twenties. Sensor himself describes the songs as: “…for trailer park loners, desperate drifters, nouveau riche rejects, or frankly anybody who feels at odds with the cultural milieu of rotting America. I relate best to those who’ve only got the wind to lean on.” These are songs for those cast out from society, people on the edge and those who stand apart. Such narratives are often the foundation for great music.
‘Chiron, Galactus’, full of emotional purpose and intensity, raises expectations that the new record will be one to look out for this summer. In the meantime, take the opportunity to check out this excellent song.
