Thao & The Get Down Stay Down's new single 'Phenom' is filmed entirely on Zoom and fans think it's 'perfection'
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down have shared a curious new music video on April 5 for their second single 'Phenom' from their upcoming album 'Temple'. On March 10, the band announced their new studio album with a scheduled release date of May 15 via Ribbon Music and also shared its first single which is also album's title track.
The 'Temple' LP follows 'A Man Alive' which released in 2016, and finds frontwoman Thao Nguyen, working alongside bandmate Adam Thompson as she takes on a producing role for the first time. It looks like a new heightened sense of creativity has come out of the singer's new role as the 'Phenom' video is both timely and intuitive. Filmed entirely through the video conferencing app Zoom, Nguyen has made a quarantine masterpiece and we may see very more similar concepts during the lockdown.
In the video, co-directed by Erin Murray and Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, we see the singer and eight backup dancers mixing and matching dance moves to each other's camera footage while Nguyen sings "Sip on joy the purest drink. Move to make. Thought to think. They can feel us from afar. Avenues and boulevards. White collar cannibal. Whatcha gonna do. Everyone's a tendon. So who you gonna chew".
According to Stereogum, Nguyen and the dancers practiced and rehearsed their choreography online.
Nguyen spoke about 'Phenom' in a statement. "Phenom’ is a direct descendant of the song ‘Meticulous Bird’ from my previous album, 'A Man Alive'", she said. "I wrote it late last year. I was reading Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin and channeling other worlds, a sort of post-apocalyptic utopia wherein time collapses and generations of the true leaders and the scorched of the earth come back and rule, wherein the earth itself comes back and brings to bear".
Nguyen continued, "I was and am always in deep awe of the fierce and focused throughout history who have worked and organized at the front lines, calling bulls**t and protecting vulnerable life. They are the real phenoms and we are strong from their strength" adding, "The first seed of this song was that guitar riff that is layered over and over again at the end. ‘Phenom’ is at the edge of mania with the miscarriage of truth and justice and power, but believes in a more virtuous time and place in the distance".
Fans on Twitter loved the new music video and appreciated the creative effort. "You are such a badass. Your music gives me life! Absolute perfection", says a fan while another says, "Thao! Love it! fantastic! Erin Murray did great. Can't wait for the album!"
A fan responded to the video with "Wow!! (sic)" while others described it as "Brilliant!" and "Amazing". One fan says, "I don't want any more zoom meetings unless they involve Thao (sic)".