Kevin Bronson on April 27th, 2017

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* Updated September 2018 with new stream of “Radar Sounds”

Sean Gadd was a founding member of Grouplove — the genial, bearded dude who always looked as much the band svengali as the bassist/singer. He departed the L.A. quintet two-plus years ago (later saying on Twitter it was “due to drink and drugs addiction … message me if you suffer depression or addiction, I will try and help”). Since, Gadd has been ensconced in his solo project, some of which fans heard during a rocky (not his fault) gig last year at Echo Park Rising. Those efforts have borne fruit in “Massive Alien,” the full-length album he made with Scott Barber (and on which his former bandmates play). The London-born songwriter’s single “Radar Sounds,” a folk song elevated to arena-rocker by delirious swirls of electric guitar, is about the seemingly strange forces that pull us toward our destinations.

The DIY-style video for the song follows that concept. Directed by musician/visual artist Sebastian Keefe (Family of the Year), Gadd ostensibly seeks the source, and in the process takes the viewer on a mini-tour of his adopted home of Los Angeles. “As the song represents change, our objective was to capture a journey which culminates in a moment of freedom and letting go of what holds you back,” Gadd explains. “This was definitely guerrilla filmmaking, as much of it was Sebastian and I traveling around Los Angeles and capturing the spontaneity of the city we live in. There is a lot of humor in this video too which hopefully captures how much fun we had making it.”

“Massive Alien’s” release date is TBA.

||| Watch: The video for “Radar Sounds”

||| Also: Stream the song here

||| Live: Sean Gadd celebrates his album release with a show May 30 at the Echo, joined by Cillie Barnes and Alyeska. Tickets.