Exposing the gritty underbelly of opulent New York City is the alternative rock band Love Crushed Velvet and their latest single and music video for "The Future."
While we know New York City for being the epicenter of glitz and glamour, Love Crushed Velvet is here to expose the hidden underground full of moody disruption, rage, and grit. Formed in 2008, Love Crushed Velvet's explosive take on New York rock landed them as a featured artist in the video game Rockband 3.
The band's blend of post-punk, alternative, and classic rock is timeless, and they showcase those tightly-knit sounds in their latest exhilarating single, "The Future." The song brings listeners on a reckless joyride packed with thrills and pure fun.
Interestingly, the song's music video, created with digital artist Elis Ekdahl, is one of the world's first music videos designed in virtual reality.
Diving deeper into the hypnotic music video, the scene opens with a robot sucking us into her magnetic field. As we spiral into the futuristic and industrial visuals, Love Crushed Velvet slaps our speakers with their thrilling and gritty instrumentals that spark a fire. Reaching the hook, we see the robot marching through a futuristic setting with an underlying rebellious nature.
Love Crushed Velvet makes it clear that the song encourages listeners to go against the grain and make the most out of whatever the future grants us. Elis Ekdahl's creative approach to this VR music video is insanity; the entire visual experience takes viewers through flashing lights, accelerations, and a never-ending search for answers about "The Future."
Take a look into the stimulating visual world of Love Crushed Velvet's latest music video for "The Future," now available to watch on YouTube.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Love Crushed Velvet. You've left us in sweat after watching your stimulating music video for "The Future." What inspired you to create a song about the unpredictable and ever-changing future?
We are hyper-bombarded by technology and distractions, and the song reflects a desire to get away from that. To get to a place where there is a greater sense of simplicity and purity of purpose.
What was your collaborative experience with digital artist Elis Ekdahl when creating the music video for "The Future?" How did you come up with the industrial, robotic theme?
The collaboration was remote because Elis is based in Sweden. He worked his butt off and did an amazing job, especially because the tools that were available to him were so much more limited than they are today. A lot of the images were things that he came up with, and we crafted the storyline and refined the images via Zoom. At the end of the day, Elis is the one that deserves the credit--we gave him a lot of room to interpret and are super-pleased with the end result.
How did you want viewers to interpret the music video for "The Future?" What did you want the video to make them think or feel?
The video was intended to be an all-out sensory assault that mimics how technology has pulled us away from our core essence. If you watch it in Virtual Reality, as intended, you need to sit down and take a breather afterward, which is an intensified version of our current relationship as people with interactive tech.
Do you often write such thought-provoking songs like "The Future?" How does this song reflect what your band is all about?
The music itself was based on some ideas that producer David Maurice had come up with, and we built on that to complete the piece structurally. The energy of the demo had a futuristic yet accessible aspect to it, and I felt that the lyrics should reflect that. Love Crushed Velvet tries to tap into sentiments that touch our humanity and vulnerability while still allowing strength and finessed muscularity to come through. "The Future" was quite a fun song to work on in that it combined all those elements very successfully.
What's next for you?
We are releasing another single, "Saddened Eyes", that we are very excited about. It's my personal favorite song off the new album, and it has a beautiful VR video to accompany it. Some interesting live shows are also coming up; we are not doing the conventional club circuit but rather trying to find unique venues that allow for a more curated experience for both listeners and the band. Plus, nonstop writing, of course.