Today PopMatters is premiering the new video from Maxïmo Park guitarist Duncan Lloyd for his new single “Outside Notion”. The song itself is a richly textured, indie folk song that mixes Scott Walker-esque intricate, baroque arrangements with Harvest era Neil Young and late 1990s Apples in Stereo.
Taken from his recent album of the same name, the song sees Lloyd joined by his Nano Kino collaborator Sarah Suri. Initially, Lloyd takes the lead with his warm, sensitive vocals articulating the plight of a once-thriving coastal town left to decay slowly: “The buildings ’round here / Have seen better days.” As Lloyd retreats, Suri takes over with her graceful, soaring vocals observing the same community seemingly left to wither and rot: “From abandoned old tombs / Where the city once bloomed / Lightbulbs swing in lone chapels of light”.
Together, Lloyd and Suri come across like old, trusted friends engaged in a dialogue about a place they used to know. When their vocals do meet, the pair sound absorbed by each other’s recollections, almost as if they are adding detail to each other’s reminiscences.
The video to accompany the song is a wonderfully lo-fi affair that compliments the song beautifully. Lloyd had this to say about the meaning behind the clip: “The video was partially made during a power cut which led to the gothic candles and black & white filming. I like to add hidden images or meaning into the videos. It’s all pretty homemade using photographs and film made traveling or on tour. Influences include early Buster Keaton and Georges Méliès films.”