On October 23, the black watch will release 19th album Fromthing Somethat via the ATOM label. As the “band” has been around since 1987 and its only constant is John Andrew Fredrick, it’s no surprise the black watch approaches each album differently. For Fromthing Somethat, Fredrick and Co. didn’t rehearse at all before recording, hoping to document the sound of the songs coming together. Fredrick also allowed producer/multi-instrumentalist Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre, Beachwood Sparks) to have his way with the basic tracks, so he was free to add and subtract whatever he wanted.
One of Fromthing Somethat‘s standouts is “The Nothing That Is.” While it’s not exactly the Stones and Kiss hopping on the disco bandwagon in the late ’70s, the track is as dance-y as the black watch gets. And since you’re spending so much time alone these days, “The Nothing That Is” is the perfect soundtrack for you to try out some funky-fresh moves in the privacy of your own home. If you need some additional inspiration of the visual variety, play the new video for “The Nothing That Is.” The clip was directed by Mike Endrizzi, who performed live with the black watch just after the turn of the century.
“Mike, who lives in Minneapolis now, told me that his idea for the video came within 10 minutes of hearing the song,” says Fredrick. “‘The Nothing That Is’ is a quotation from a Wallace Stevens poem, and the lyrics are all my own aphorisms—kinda—and unrelated in a non-sequitur sort of way that I really like. Almost all of our songs are non sequitur-ish. And the video’s that way, too: nothing to do with the lyrics, but a lovely thing in and of itself. That’s Mike’s super-cool kid in the vid—whom he and his wife, Dawn, named after Black Francis.”
We’re proud to premiere the video for “The Nothing That Is” today on magnetmagazine.com. Check it out right here, right now. And speaking of black watch videos, also check out the recent episode of MAGNET television we did with Fredrick:
