Sonic Youth T-Shirt (free download)
Hello!
I’ll be releasing some previously unreleased stuff this week that I’ve been collecting over the past few months. Meant to do this in the midst of the UK lockdown, but everything seems to take me forever to do! I’m now doing this under deadline because I’ve got to tell you about LP4 very soon!
This was supposed to be just for some pandemic cheer, so it’s free to download, but please consider donating to or getting to know some of the charities listed below this message.
Sonic Youth T-Shirt is a song that was recorded for Second Love but never released. I wrote around 60 songs for that album and they made it through various stages, and Sonic Youth T-Shirt almost made it, but in the end it didn’t feel quite right. I’ve always thought it was a bit of a banger though.
There’s lots of unreleased stuff in my back catalogue, but this is the only unreleased song that has a video directed and filmed by Barry Mendel, the film legend who produced all your favourite movies.
The story is this: in the summer of 2013, I had just arrived in LA to record ten tracks with Ludwig Göransson. Barry, who I’d met when auditioning for God Save the Girl, asked me if I had any that I would like to make a music video for, and I sent them to him. He liked the tempo of Sonic Youth T-Shirt, and thought it would be fun to make a video where a girl who professed to not be lonely at all looked, in fact, incredibly lonely.
The video was filmed on Super 8, and in making it I basically took a tour of all the secret best places in LA. Barry and his then-assistant Nate taught me everything I know about cinema magic on a small budget and, in turn, I did an Olympic dive (or we got a stunt double). A lot of people came out to help us, and I’m sure they’ll be happy this video is finally seeing the light of day!
You’ll notice the video track and the final version of the track are different, because the mix evolved and, as always, I redid the vocal in the final moment. If I had one piece of advice, it’s to commit to a vocal before you lip-synch to it. BUT I also advise you to throw yourself into life and make funny videos with brilliant people.
I really love the city of LA, and making this video was one of the things that helped me fall in love with it. What a dream to stand on the empty stage of the Greek Theatre and pretend (yes, PRETEND) to have delusions of grandeur! To watch the Lakers and eat peanuts! To skateboard in Pasadena and bodysurf in Malibu and to karaoke in K-Town and play a gig on your friend’s sofa.
Thank you thank you to everyone who was a part of this. Didn’t our lives all turn out so strange and so real.
Some charities to peruse:
Los Angeles Bail Fund (LA) https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wp4bl
The Underground Museum (LA) https://theundergroundmuseum.z2systems.com/np/clients/theundergroundmuseum/donation.jsp
Black Minds Matter (UK) https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com
Download the track free here: