Los Angeles-based alternative darkwave, five-piece, The Saint James Society, has shared a video for their haunting cover of Arabian Knights (originally by Siouxsie and the Banshees). The track is featured on the band’s recently released EP, ‘Covered In Blood,’ which is available now from LA independent label Blank City Records at iTunes (http://apple.co/2ueZMIJ) or grab it from Amazon (http://amzn.to/2iAi4mU). Watch the video via YouTube below.
Directed by Juan Azulay (Sigur Rós, Lydia Lunch, The Cult, The Black Ryder), the video features footage from Tavia Ito’s archive of artist Maya Deren’s ‘Meshes of the Afternoon’ – one of the most important American experimental filmmakers and entrepreneurial promoters of the avant-garde in the 1940’s and 1950’s. You could say it’s a “cover video” that’s fitting for the cover song.
The Saint James Society’s new EP marks the debut on LA’s newest record label, Blank City Records. Specializing in releasing music on used, vintage medical X-Rays format, made famous in the ‘50s & ‘60s to smuggle Western music behind the Iron Curtain. The label pressed just 100 copies of Covered In Blood as part of the release, which sold out in less than 24 hours. Arabian Knights can also be found on a limited edition, red vinyl 7” flexi which is available for purchase while supplies last at http://blankcityrecords.storenvy.com/ and http://thesaintjamessociety.storenvy.com/.
The EP is a collection of covers that have inspired the band since its inception, several of which have been a mainstay in the The Saint James Society’s live set over the years. The EP also features guest vocals from Anna Bulbrook (The Airborne Toxic Event / The Bulls / Edwards Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) and Swan (Glitch Mob / Pair Of Arrows).
Track listing
1. Arabian Knights (originally by Siouxsie and the Banshees) feat. Anna Bulbrook
2. Russian Roulette (originally by Lords of the New Church) feat. Swan
3. All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (originally by Bauhaus)
4. Hot Sand (originally by Shocking Blue)
5. Arabian Knights (Peter Zaad ‘Stranger 80s Remix’)
