♫♪  Escape-ism - “Walking in the Dark”

Redefining the rebel creep as if it ever needed to be redefined is our man Ian Svenonius, morphing ever more into Nick Cave (although poor Nick probably wishes he had Ian’s hairline these days). But Ian’s still Ian, and Ian is also now Escape-ism, his new slinky post-punk project that needs absolutely no introduction. Er, uh, ahem: Introduction to Escape-ism is out now on Merge everybody!

“Walking in the Dark” is the introduction to the reintroduction to Introduction, if you get me. Making rock ‘n’ roll faces as if his life probably depends on it (he turns 50 next year, you guys!), Ian rolls by on screen in what video directors Shane McKenzie and Alexandra Cabral call “VHS all-analog new nostalgia.” Yeah, sure, let’s call it nostalgia for all those movie nights routinely thwarted by our family VCR’s shitty tracking. I’ve really been itching to relive those memories [*eyeroll emoji*].

Ah, I don’t mean to be a grump, squinting sour-facedly like ol’ Ian does a lot in this clip. He’s surely got a lot on his mind — he’s a generational spokesperson after all — and we’ve gotta love him for shouldering that load. Still, I should warn you: don’t try to adjust the video tracking on your laptop or smartphone, because you’ll probably break whatever device you’re watching on by digging around for knobs to twist.

Introduction to Escape-ism tracklisting:

1. Walking in the Dark
2. Lonely at the Top
3. Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day
4. Iron Curtain
5. Almost No One (Can Have My Love)
6. They Took the Waves
7. The Stars Get in the Way
8. I Don’t Remember You
9. Crime Wave Rock

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CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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