Video Premiere: The Bright Light Social Hour release “Call My Name” today
Austin’s The Bright Light Social Hour release a brand new video for the track “Call My Name” today at The Cosmic Clash. The song is from their latest release, Emergency Leisure which dropped August 2, 2023. The band soon followed with their most ambitious tour in five years, playing dates across North America from September of last year through May of this year. The 36 city tour took the band as far north as Canada and across the United States. This exceptional act has put in a ton of miles, making new fans and bringing old ones back into the fold with a stellar new record and a long overdue extended tour. The new video highlights a track that stood out when the album dropped last year so it makes sense the band would make a corresponding video.
From our review of Emergency Leisure by Amanda Quraishi:
“The last three songs of the album are a smooth ride all the way home. It’s a testament to the band’s creative vision that this album delivers right up to the very end. The can’t-miss track “Call My Name” is hot joy. Carruthers’ keys add breathtaking richness, filling in the lines and calling to mind epic ensembles like The Commodores or Chicago, generating a big, bold sound and demanding surrender to the groove.”
The video which was shot in Washington state at Mount Rainier while the band was on tour, was produced and directed by Hermanos Sisters Films, the production company co-owned by Jackie O’Brien, bassist and founding member of TBLSH. O’Brien commented on the song and video, “‘Call My Name’ is a transmission to divine inspiration, or aliens, and we wanted to use nature as the means of communicating with whatever lies above the clouds. Inspired by Michel Gondry/Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World’ video, we filmed with the song at half speed then sped everything up to give the uncanny effect of accelerated time. It’s a reminder that the universe is so much greater than our frenetic little lives; we must slow way down to receive its cosmic transmissions.”
The concept is simple but the result is better than one might imagine, with the entire band seen in various shots in the wilderness near Mount Rainer with a playful tone that conveys the joy the band experiences making music that connects to fans on a deeper level than most recorded music. Indeed, the song has spiritual overtones that made it easy for TBLSH to choose a site with a meaningful connection to multiple Native American tribes who made the area home for over 9,000 years. “The Puyallup Tribe name for Mount Rainier is Tahoma, or Tacoma, which means “the mother of waters”. Other Native American names for Mount Rainier include “Takhoma” and “Ta-co-bet”
While The Bright Light Social Hour have played sparingly since returning from their latest tour, Austin fans have one chance to catch the band this Fall on November 17 at Radio East as headliners for Evermore’s second annual benefit concert. Austin rockers, Parker Woodland and Oliver Steck’s The Squirrel Show round out a bill fans won’t want to miss. Advance tickets including a limited number of VIP tickets are available now.
Lyrics:
Call my name
Promise to be the same
Call my name
Promise to be the change
Somewhere beneath the clouds
Trying to figure out
Call my name
Cry from a higher plane
Call my name
Reach up beyond the rain
Somewhere above the clouds
Trying to figure out
Something above the clouds
Trying to reach back down
Call my name
Promise to be the change
Call my name
Promise to be the change
Call my name
Call my name
Featured photo by Niko Stycos
