Pôt-Pot’s latest single was written during a period of profound personal change for Mark Waldron-Hyden. “It left me dissociated or out of touch with myself, which inspired me to explore that in this song,” says the co-founder of the Irish quintet, which merges krautrock and psych influences with spacey male/female vocal harmonies and layer upon layer of sonic spackle.
Waldron-Hyden notes that “The Lights Are On” was heavily influenced by the unlikely pairing of Brazilian rhythms and ’50s rock ’n’ roll. “I wanted to tie in some different music I was being exposed to, both in Ireland and Lisbon, as I was traveling between the two places,” he says.
Tulipomania’s Cheryl Gelover and Tom Murray created the animated stop-motion video for the track using their own hands and an array of objects. Various lip-shaped clay models were matched to the vocals through the scanning and printing process. With Pôt-Pot’s input, images were selected and reproduced on an animation stand for the final footage. An old scanner/printer supplied the solarized effect.
“The pace and movement have an air of unsettling beauty that weaves its way between the lyrics,” says Pôt-Pot’s Elaine Malone. “The gestural hands and objects conjure a realm the song can live in.”
We’re proud to premiere Pôt-Pot’s “The Lights Are On” video. The band’s new album, Warsaw 480km, is out now on Felte.
—Hobart Rowland
