Music
video premiere: uk alt-rockers youth man call out social media information bubbles in gritty, politically charged live performance of ‘painted blue’
UK-based alt-rockers Youth Man just dropped the official video for their live studio performance of their single ‘Painted Blue’—a multi-layered track that reminiscent of an amped up version of Portishead with its dark vocals, haunting melodies, and hard rock grit. And while one might be quick to interpret the lead singer Kaila Whyte’s raw, impassioned vocals as lamenting about love gone wrong, lyrically, this surprising track is actually about the falseness and opacity of the social media information bubble, how it shapes our socio-political ideas and how and who we interacted with others.
“This song is the most personal on the record. It was written at a time when we realised that due to social media we had surrounded ourselves with like-minded people and the social and political values we have aren’t necessarily shared with the rest of the country. Facebook had given us a false sense of security. The song is having a go at the deceptive tactics used in politics today and calling on people like us who aren’t content with the climate and saying we’re not alone. It’s a bit of a love letter to Jeremy Corbyn too,” Whyte told AFROPUNK.
See Youth Man play AFROPUNK London, Sept. 24 at Alexandra Palace.
By Erin White*, AFROPUNK contributor
2016 Live Dates:
August 4th – Rebellion Fest – Blackpool
August 6th – Brixton, Windmill – London
September 24th – Afropunk London – Alexandra Palace – London
September 25th – Underground Fest – Gloucester
https://www.facebook.com/youthmanband
https://twitter.com/youthmanband
https://youthman.bandcamp.com
*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.
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