After dropping double-A side “No Relation”/’Moving Target” last month, Amsterdam’s rollicking jangle pop maestros Naive Set revealed their latest single “On and On” today. Though loose-limbed and carefree in their craft and disposition, the quartet isn’t immune to an affecting existential lamentation or two, and “On and On” expresses a quiet wish to experience those yonder days all over again.
American-born songwriter Mikey Casalaina, however, sounds noticeably strained and weary to keep up with the song’s swift pace; it marches on restlessly before the words can have their desired ripple effect, which seems to be part of the point. Casalaina himself is quick to realise the joke’s on him: “The hits we wished we hadn’t hit/The lines too tired for saving”.
It’s what we do with our time that ultimately counts, and the vibrantly animated video by Una Jongenelis strikes as a painstaking labour of love. “(Jongenelis) rotoscoped a visual representation of the song with no fewer than 3276 individual drawings! ,” the band writes on Instagram. “The lyric goes “hit rewind but the tape keeps on playing,” but we’d appreciate you hitting play a few times where ever you stream your music.”
Furthermore, Naive Set wouldn’t be Naive Set without finding a silver lining in these brief spells of defeatism.
“Hit rewind
But the tape keeps on playing
An endless end’s
A painless end
Oh well, there’s no escaping”
Watch the video for “On and On” below and find it on your streaming platform of choice.
Follow Naive Set on Instagram, Facebook, Bandcamp and Twitter.
