London experimental-pop musician Jerskin Fendrix has shared a new video for his latest single A Star Is Born. It’s the perfect pick me up track for Sunday (or any day you need a little kick in the pants).
The video was directed by Bart Price, a long-time friend and collaborator of Jerskin’s – they also worked together on the videos for previous singles Manhattan & Swamp and Bart co-directed the experimental, absurdist opera UBU at the V&A. Watch it via YouTube below.
The new video builds on these previous collaborations, with Bart’s signature style combining found footage with intensely hyperactive colours and effects.
The single, named for the 1937 film, sees Jerskin swagger with a faux arrogance, ‘call the fire service, ‘cause I’m on fire’. The music is built on a mudslide of his distinctive synth-pop production. Sprinting through exactly 3 minutes of hyperactivity, he tosses references to Nick Cave, Shame, Puccini, the Quietus and Wim Wenders into his mythology.
Speaking about the video, Bart said, “While shooting in Piccadilly Circus, a group of French children came up to Jerskin and asked, ‘Are you famous?’ The answer was of course yes and he took selfies with every one of them. In that moment they believed he was an icon and so he was an icon, that’s what this music video is about.”
The single is lifted from Jerskin’s upcoming debut album ‘Winterreise’, which is due out 17th April via untitled recs.
The announcement also follows the recent release of Jerskin’s warped single Black Hair, which was accompanied by haunting visuals made by Liam Noonan, the artist behind the custom visuals at London clubbing institution FOLD.
Jerskin Fendrix has been carving himself a special place on the London scene. Starting out by releasing a trilogy of video singles that have already received high praise from a vast array of major publications. In 2018, he composed the score to an experimental absurdist opera UBU at the V&A, before embarking on a UK tour and joint single release with rock phenomenon Black Midi.
As a classically trained pianist and violinist, Fendrix’s practice and ambition extends far beyond the realm of traditional songwriting. His avant-garde take on electronic pop cannibalises and appropriates elements of pop culture at the service of very personal songs. All of his material has an emotionally playful sarcastic take on the tropes of modern life, whilst also delving inwards. Most of all, it can’t be easily pigeonholed.
‘Winterreise’ is the fruit of Jerskin Fendrix’s first 3 years as an artist. His debut album spans an improbable range of music, skimming UK Grime, Bruce Springsteen, Sibelius, Joanna Newsom, PC Music and ‘50s Doo-Wop without alighting. Jerskin’s ‘Winterreise,’ named after Schubert’s Winterreise, conveys the same message: if you spend too long writing a breakup album, something weird will happen. The album will contain 10 tracks and run for 43 minutes.
