Seattle three-piece Helms Alee announced a new album Keep This Be The Way for April 29th via Sargent House earlier this month and today they’re back with the final single before it’s release.
‘Tripping Up The Stairs’ pits nightmarish synths against a barrage of distortion and is accompanied with an Apocalypse Now meets Swamp Thing styled video focused on the concept of control. The director Ron Harrell notes:
"The idea that I wanted to convey when we set out filming the video was an uncomplicated yet visually compelling version of finding said control. To me it became as simple as floating at sea and finding sure footing on land. Helms Alee has a pretty hydrous identity as it is, so incorporating that part came naturally. I had an initial cut of the video that was a little cleaner and realistic, visually speaking. The band saw it and, what I heard them say was “that’s great, now fuck it up”. So I fucked it up and this is the result."
On the collaboration, the band says:
"Ron Harrell is one of our dearest friends, so it felt very easy and natural to be directed into vulnerable states by him. Having been by our side through most of the creation of our latest record via assisting with engineering, contributing thoughts and ideas, and generally being a friend to us, it made perfect sense to collaborate with him in this format. Photography and videography are natural ways that Ron expresses his love of life. That is made clear by the visual beauty of this video. He took a complicated feeling and created a weird fever dreamscape story to express that feeling. He applied his empathetic nature to incorporate the feelings/needs of the band while sculpting a story only he knew how to tell."
Watch the video here:
AA
Photo Credit: Ron Harrell
[…] Watch: ‘Tripping Up The Stairs’ by Helms Alee (via Chris Nosnibor / Aural Aggravation) […]