Today’s track of the day is “Model Village” by British punk group IDLES.
On the track, singer Joe Talbot spouts criticisms of the supposedly “idyllic” English lifestyle, framing the issues through the lens of a model village. “I hated growing up in a city that was really a town that was really a fishbowl” elaborates Talbot. “I left as soon as I could, only to realise the fishbowl didn’t exist…just the fish, and they’re everywhere.”
Musically, the song delivers all we’ve come to expect from the band: blistering guitar lines, frenzied drums accompanied by Talbot’s howling vocals. The band have stated that they were also heavily influenced by hip-hop, and tried to incorporate this sound onto the album.
The song’s music video was directed by Michel Gondry (Daft Punk, Radiohead, The White Stripes) and Olivier Gondry. The video sees Michel painstakingly cut up hand-drawn paper characters and shapes. These cutouts were then sent to Olivier in Paris, where the collages were animated with CGI. This Frankenstein approach to making the video matches the song’s themes perfectly.
Ahead of the release of their upcoming third album Ultra Mono, IDLES will host a series of live-streamed performances from Abbey Road Studios on August 29 & 30. Each performance will be professionally filmed and recorded, with the band showcasing a different set each time.
IDLES will release their forthcoming LP Ultra Mono on Friday 25 September via Partisan Records/Liberator Music.
Enjoy the music video for “Model Village” by IDLES:
Tickets for IDLES’ Abbey Road live streams can be purchased HERE.
