What if we could live forever? That is the layperson’s version of the complex question that lies at the center of Listener‘s “A Love Letter to Detroit”. The song, alongside its stirring new music video, has more to do with the science of cryonics, as well as its founding father, Robert Ettinger.
The Kansas City indie rockers are gearing up to release their latest 7-inch record, “Being Empty: Being Filled”, on 14 October. It will be released independently in the US and via Sounds of Subterrania in the UK, and it’s every bit of experimental, cerebral magic that has garnered them a cult-like fan following across the world.
“We were contacted by Jakob Printzlau, the director for ‘A Love Letter to Detroit’, about making a film for us a few months before we left on our 2017 summer world tour,” says Listener frontman Dan Smith. “I don’t think he knew that we even were working on a new record, but it was perfect timing because we were going to be in Denmark on tour in August.”
“We let him listen to the song, which is about cryonics and life from the perspective of Robert Ettinger, and he ran with the idea. It was such a good experience. We were all a bit road weary on that tour, as it was almost four months long, but Jakob and his crew had a great vision and took such good care of us and the filming. He even had a doctor on the set to make sure I wasn’t burnt by the dry ice in the bathtub scenes. We hope you enjoy watching the video as much as we enjoyed making it.”