Video: Big Black Delta, ‘Vessel’

Kevin Bronson on July 10th, 2020

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On his new album as Big Black Delta, “4,” singer-songwriter-producer Jonathan Bates documents his struggles with depression and addiction, celebrates the resilience and fortitude needed to fend off those demons and, ultimately, turns the battle into a sci-fi-of-the-mind art piece.

“4” draws on the early days of post-punk, techno and industrial music. Except for the metal parts. Except for the balladry. Except for the experimental soundscapes. The entire album’s swings from caustic to tender are foreshadowed on the opener, “Lord Only Knows,” which Bates rightly says “starts like Whitesnake and ends like Liberace.”

The album’s centerpiece, if there is one, might be “Vessel,” because weaknesses notwithstanding, what are we all if not vessels? Bates found it a practical way to think — “to be of service” — as he addressed his mental health issues in therapy. That involved “understanding my mental chemistry and addressing pre-existing genetic depression issues,” he says. “Quitting drinking alcohol. I’m an alcoholic and was chemically addicted to it. Going through that as opposed to going around it. All these things and countless more informed me as to what I wanted to do musically … to be of service.”

In the “Vessels” video directed by Warren Kommers (a collaborator on the remarkable short film for “Summoner”), the wall of a high-ceilinged room closes in on Bates and his spare existence, revealing a second, colorful room inhabited by Murielle Hilaire and Courtney Scarr.

“When approaching Warren about doing something for this song, he and I were both at points in our lives where we were revisiting past failed relationships and our responsibility in their failures,” Bates says. “I sent him the song, which is about me owning up to my victimhood …

“This was of Warren’s design. My room was to be stark and empty. My favorite touch is the urinal and cracked paint in my room. In Murielle’s room is Warren’s father’s artwork, which is beautiful. He wanted her world to be sophisticated and full of color, love and movement. Whilst my room is as basic as possible. This is what it feels like when you think everyone has a good thing going and you’re born fucked.”

From the yappy synths in “Canary,” to the industrial-metal thump of “Heaven Here I Come” to the warped ballads of “Killing Me” and “Air Conditioned Dork” to the instrumental sigh of relief “Yes” at the album’s close, “4” is the cinematic tour de force you knew could happen nine years ago when Big Black Delta released “Huggin & A Kissin.”

||| Watch: The video for “Vessel”