Jaunty Scottish indie rockers Buffet Lunch are releasing their debut album The Power of Rocks in just a couple of weeks, but ahead of that we have the pleasure of bringing you the latest single and video for it, “Bladderwrack”. If you, like us, are ignorant, you might be interested to know that bladderwrack is not a funny made up word for when you really need the toilet, but in fact a type of algae. Great, now that’s out of the way here’s what vocalist Perry O’Bray has to say about it:
“This is a song about looking properly at the things and people around you and trying to figure out what you need. I’d recently moved to live right by the sea in Scotland, and this is essentially a love letter to the coast, looking at the detail of the things there and thinking about what is important to me.”
Full of impish guitars that are offset by cascading electronics and tactile percussive sounds, Buffet Lunch have created a breezy soundscape that does remind us of the liveliness of a windswept coast on “Bladderwrack”. O’Bray delivers sings his lines with a chipper and personable attitude, but the words relay a deeper wonder that he feels at visiting the “wizard sea,” as he sings about “the grass green sea glass / rubbed with waves hand / stand in the foam tongue / keep me coming back.” Buffet Lunch continue bouncing along in their sunshine sound as he extrapolates from these poetic reflections, culminating in the humble but personable declaration of wanting “to live a lovely life” and affirming “the sea will welcome us”. It’s a simply life affirming and uplifting song.
The video for “Bladderwrack” was filmed in both Scotland and New Zealand, as they explain:
“When we were discussing ideas for the video I wanted to do a tribute to the Scientist by little known act Coldplay and film myself singing the lyrics backwards while swimming forwards. Unfortunately the temperature in the sea in Edinburgh is about 5 degrees so we thought it would be better to get Neil who’s currently based in New Zealand to do the honours.”
So the swimming parts are in NZ while the rest is in Scotland – seamless. Enjoy it below.
“Bladderwrack” will be on streaming platforms from tomorrow, and Buffet Lunch’s debut album The Power of Rocks will be out on May 7 via Upset The Rhythm (pre-order). You can find the band on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram.
