Video premiere: Taylor Barefoot, ‘Why So Serious?’

Kevin Bronson on July 14th, 2022

0

The shoegaze gods — and we can confirm they exist — must be smiling. In fact, they are way back in their BarcaLoungers (standard equipment in heaven) letting Taylor Barefoot’s “Why So Serious?” wash over them, first the gentle swells of echo-laden guitar and then, almost 3 minutes on, a lightning-bolt riff of … anxiety? … hope? … jubilation? It’s instrumental music, so decide as it washes over you.

The song is a highlight of Barefoot’s new album “Distressed Signals,” a cinematic collection of shoegaze, post-rock and dream-pop (think Explosions in the sky) inspired by a nasty break-up and a cross-country move.

The video for “Why So Serious?” takes a winking look at the life of an indie musician. He plays blithely throughout a large production studio as workers move the scenery around, oblivious to his presence. The irony is intentional.

“The excitement of the bridge was me trying to capture what it felt like leaving behind my life in Boston and moving to L.A.,” Barefoot says. “I didn’t have a place to live, I didn’t know where I was gonna end up — but I was on a plane to L.A., and it felt good to leave all the sadness behind. Of course, it follows you. I remember taking off and being so excited just being shot down the runway at a couple hundred miles an hour. But it’s a long flight to L.A., so the feeling wears off. There’s triumph in the bridge, but for the rest of the song, anxiety is always percolating. The title ‘Why So Serious’ is a bit of self-deprecation.”

Headphones on for this one.

||| Watch: The video for “Why So Serious?”