With their European tour set to start later this week, Drab Majesty have shared a new video for track “Cape Perpetua” from their recently released EP, An Object in Motion (out now via Dais Records).
An Object in Motion marks the start of a stirring new chapter in Drab Majesty’s majestic legacy. Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote coastal Oregon town of Yachats, Deb Demure leaned into the neo-psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl-shaped 12-string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. After early morning hikes in the rain, Deb would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into “flow states,” letting the sound lead the way.
One of the EP’s two instrumental tracks, “Cape Perpetua” showcases the collection’s divergent palette: sparkling acoustic finger-picking refracted through delay, equal parts raga and reverie. Melodies and moods congeal and dissipate, at the threshold of rustic American primitivism, brooding neo-folk, and pastoral melancholia. The track was described by Electronic Sound as “weaving baroque-classical, Durutti Column-esque elements into soarding, gothic melancholy sagas that sound like nothing else around.”
Today Drab Majesty share an accompanying video for the track, shot on super 8 and directed by the brilliant John Elliott (Emeralds, Imaginary Softwoods) who comments: “‘Cape Perpetua‘ is a slow-rolling track with tessellating psychedelia which inspired me to channel my Joseph Cornell and late-era Brakhage appreciation. The goal was to capture simple objects moving in and out of stillness reflecting the ebb and flow of the widescreen guitar patterns. Upon discovering a partially dilapidated cemetery near my house, I found spinning pinwheels askew in the ground and late blooming flowers laced with synthetic flowers, all against a backdrop of partly cloudy skies and autumnal foliage. We explored this simple and profound surrealism by performing in-camera lap-dissolves and double exposures in an attempt to marry the ethereal magic of the song with the film we shot. The simplistic nature of Super 8 camera lenses paired with the imperfect nature of Super 8mm film creates a window into a world that feels like a distant cluster of memories, or a dream-like state complete with blurred edges and extemporaneous world-building.”
Drab Majesty live dates:
Oct 20 – Stockholm, Sweden @ HUS7
Oct 21 – Helsinki, Finland @ Ääniwalli
Oct 22 – Berlin, Germany @ Lido
Oct 25 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Musicbox
Oct 26 – Porto, Portugal @ Hard Club
Oct 27 – Madrid, Spain @ La Paqui
Oct 28 – Barcelona, Spain @ Apolo 2
Oct 30 – Nantes, France @ Le Ferrailleur
Oct 31 – Paris, France @ La Marbrerie
Nov 1 – Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland @ L’Amalgame
Nov 2 – Milan, Italy @ Barrio’s
Nov 4 – Bologna, Italy @ Improved Sequence Festival
