Folk, rock, pop, and blues collide in “Naive Eyes”, the latest single from Freo-five piece The Hunting Birds. Consisting of Connor Minervini, Kendra Fewster, Chris Mackenzie, Gwyneth Gardiner, and Brad Forbes, The Hunting Birds have crafted a sound that seamlessly blends a mix of genres with heartfelt lyrics.
A staple since the band’s early days, “Naive Eyes” was birthed after a particularly rough time for songwriter Connor. Of the track, Connor says:
“I started writing “Naive Eyes” when I was in high school. I’d been going through some traumatizing things for the first time, a rough break up, my parents splitting and I wasn’t handling them very well. […] I was sixteen and a bit in-experienced, I was unsure of myself and that invited in some demons that I wasn’t prepared for. I felt paralyzed by the anxiety I was feeling, and this song is kind of those demons taunting me while I fight to escape.”
The accompanying music video from Perth film-maker Peter Cheng almost brings those demons to life, with a haunting horror-movie-like aesthetic and muted colour palette. It’s a careful choice, says Connor, and one that pays homage to the track’s beginnings:
“Throughout the time of myself that I wrote this song and was dealing with all the loss and change around me, I felt like I couldn’t move. We tried to follow that idea of fear and paralysis in the music video. It’s a montage of people trapped in still images, where they’re struggling to move.”
Check out the song and video below! For more info on the band, including upcoming tour dates, be sure to visit their Facebook page and website, where you can also stream their EP In Its Nature in full.
