Calling Blue Jay is the musical project of London-based, Belgian-musician, Marieke De Keukelaere, alongside violinist, Maris Peterlevics. The debut Calling Blue Jay record, Woods, came out in 2015, and the band are currently building up towards the release of the follow-up, Indigo Dreams, recorded at Waratah Records by producer Michael Griggs. This week the band are sharing the second single from it, The City Shake, the video for which we’re premiering here today.
The unnerving video, shot on Walthamstow Marshes, was directed by Minus Tone, and features butoh dancer, Mai Nguyen Tri, a cast of masked strangers and Marieke herself running into an almost Blair Witch-like forest finale, which leaves us, as viewers, not entirely sure what fate awaited her in those trees.
The video is matched in the atmospheric music; all pulsating guitars and marimba, reminiscent of Let England Shake-era PJ Harvey and the deceptively, driving shuffle of brushed percussion. At the centre of the musical storm is Marieke’s vocal, pitched somewhere between Beth Gibbons and Annelotte de Graaf, it remains disconcertingly laid back throughout, rarely raising to anything above a hushed whisper, perfectly suited to the music it accompanies. An intriguing introduction to an album we’re already very excited to hear.
The City Shake is lifted from the band’s upcoming album Indigo Dreams. Click HERE for more information on Calling Blue Jay.
