Joseph & the Beasts’ “Tremors” is a mortal man’s swan song: A caterwauling swell of solemn warmth and frantic energy creates an undeniable urgencyt that speaks to our common heartbeat, in recognition of every beginning’s subsequent and inevitable ending.
we don’t seem so small ’til the foundation swells
rattles our bones
set to swallow us whole
unravel a ball
first the wind stops then the birds drop
temporary people chasing paper and power
like they’ll float above the mess
that’s left when she is through is you
Watch: “Tremors” – Joseph & the Beasts
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the music video for “Tremors,” off Joseph & the Beasts’ recently-released debut album Gold Light (independently released March 2017). With its bright entrance and choral ahhs crafting a vibrant foundation, “Tremors” mixes melancholic sentiment with charisma and rich, wondrous melody. Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Mulhollen expels passion through poetic lyrics that balance sheer terror with utter infatuation at life’s temporal, yet everlasting beauty.
seed-sewn waters edge grows not knowing fear
the process is progress no matter what
no blood set to flame
for the mark of another calendar year
no struggle to support bodies
we’ve had the privilege of housing
such fair weather souls
but who will fill with song when we’re gone?
“If ‘Gold Light’ (the album title) is considered a life cycle, ‘Tremors’, as a closing track, is the end of that cycle, and naturally deals with the death/ending of that life,” explains Mulhollen. “The video plays on that theme and reminds us that we have to die a little death each day in order to make space for something new.” The intriguing visual follows a woman, wearing a bubble around her head and clad in all white, going from and returning to a rocky outcropping overlooking a gorgeous body of water. The scene is so beautiful, it’s surreal.
In between the going and coming, we see an exchange happen between this woman and another bubble-headed figure; it’s like a transference of power, a send-off. We feel the tangibility of time as depicted by painted notches on a wall, as well as the singularity of experience through the commonality of the two oddly-dressed women.
battered moonlight leads us onward
we are shadows, hovering
facing the wrong way
this wisdom leaves us blinded
choking.
dead.
“Tremors” is not a gleeful song, yet it is fueled by the utmost passion and respect for human perseverance: An acknowledgement of the circle of life, Joseph & the Beasts’ album closer is an emphatic outcry that stirs us to our core, shaking us awake and driving us to live life to the fullest. Humbling and engaging, “Tremors” reminds us of the always-ticking clock, the day that ends in night, and the life that ends in death.
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