Patrick Wolf continues the logical transition from glitter eyed dandy to rave geisha in the new video for “Hard Times”, the second single from his fourth studio LP “The Bachelor”.
The GFC that ubiquitous scapegoat/justification/inspiration for lazy journalists everywhere (including myself) is firmly in mind as Wolf seeks revolution in the face of “hard times” or simply put it’s a modern spin on the idea that great art is borne from depression – of both the emotional and financial variety. Interestingly the visual accompaniment takes the opposite approach (the more fantastical jazz hands direction) with a neon rainbow of Boombox era club kids, Rorschach hallucinations, kaleidoscopes and black lights.
I don’t know whether it’s an anthemic party jam or a call to arms you can dance to but never has doom and gloom sounded so uplifting.
Wolf explains of the video: “For me this video is my homage to two of my biggest heroes, Elvis Presley and Klaus Nomi. I always wondered what both of those geniuses would be doing if they were both still with us. Elvis and Klaus were some of the greatest radical visionaries the world has ever seen, never forget them. This is my first music video shot outside of the United Kingdom, filmed all on Pier 52, I think, on Manhattan Island, a couple of piers down from the home of Studio 54. The outfit I am wearing was made by my long term collaborator Ada Zanditon out of bin bags from Whitechapel Market in London flown to New York in its own suitcase at great excess baggage cost. It was an absolute mind altering experience working with Ace Norton, This guy is definitely the Michel Gondry of my generation. I cant wait to collaborate with him and his amazing team in the future. Big love to all the dancers, make up artists and performance artists in the video, to Charles Manning for making the costumes for my army and to Marvin for making this all happen for me and my hard times song.
