Today Black Marble aka Chris Stewart has shared the heartwarming video for the new single “Preoccupation“, which appears on the upcoming album, Fast Idol, due out October 22, 2021 on Sacred Bones Records.
Black Marble worked with mixed-media collective Crack Cloud on the video for “Preoccupation,” ultimately embracing the song’s themes by running with a tenderly meta approach which resulted in a video within a video, beautifully capturing various intersections of creative pursuit and camaraderie; joyfully embracing the process over the product. These notes provided by Chris Stewart (which it so happens, appear in the video at the start via projector) served as a starting point:
“A kind of revolutionary spirit but back to nature post apocalyptic motif is what ‘Preoccupation’ is about. Sort of a return to barbarism, reclamation by nature over the state and the protagonists are observers of this going on and narrating it from an anthropological point of view…So anything that hints at these motifs but in your own way. “What is on the way?” is just questioning what is coming specifically but knowing what’s coming generally. I counted twice 1,2,3,4, but I reversed it, so it’s counting down – or counting up rather, but in reverse.”
Crack Cloud shares: “‘What is on the way?’ is one of several thematic motifs in Black Marble’s ‘Preoccupation’ that grabbed our attention. Our world in recent years has been frozen in ambiguity, but from the perspective of an artist- such uncertainty goes hand in hand with the territory. The timing of this production felt like the end of a deep thaw; an invitation to start from square one. We entertained various concepts involving an observer and their connection to a shapeshifting world, but the excitement and shakiness of our own lives and as a group felt more tangible than any fiction we could commit to paper.
We contemplated our own creative process; what is the main motivating factor behind why we make art? In some sense it’s a means of creating a common ground or language to unite us. A sense of community and playfulness in all of life’s volatility. It’s this very essence that we sought to realize in our visual interpretation of the song.
The creative process for us is always clumsy, emotionally and in execution. Our storyboards are often half-baked and riffing off an idealistic notion rather than anything concrete. We wanted to share with the viewer as candidly as possible what this process looks like.
As day dreamers that wear our hearts on our sleeves, we made this video as a love letter to all artists, and the eternal optimism that they represent by nature of their own preoccupation.”
Watch & listen to “Preoccupation” below:
Black Marble is set to tour the UK October as well as next spring. See all tour dates below:
Black Marble Tour Dates
23/10 – Bournemouth, UK – Anvil
24/10 – Cardiff, UK – Club Ifor Bach
25/10 – Milton Keynes, UK – Craufurd Arms
26/10 – Hull, UK – The Adelphi
27/10 – Edinburgh, UK – Mash House
28/10 – Glasgow, UK – Stereo
29/10 – Dundee, UK – Hunter S Thompson
31/10 – Newcastle, UK – Anarchy Brewing Company
01/11 – Chester, UK – Live Rooms
02/11- Oxford, UK – O2 Academy
03/11 – St. Albans, UK – The Horn
05/11 – Bath, UK – Moles
06/11 – London, UK – Moth Club (SOLD OUT)
07/11- Hebden Bridge, UK – Trades Club
08/11- Blackpool, UK – Bootleg Social
09/11- Liverpool, UK – EBGB’s
11/12 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/14 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/13 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
11/16 – Denver, CO – HQ.
11/18 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
11/19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater
04/01 Merleyn, Nijmegen, NL
04/02 Botanique, Brussels, BE
04/03 Rotown, Rotterdam, NL
04/04 Kiff, Aarau, CH
04/05 Magnolia, Milan, IT
04/06 Ampere, Munich, DE
04/07 Dürer Kert, Budapest, HU
04/08 Underdogs, Prague, CZ
04/09 Żaczek, Krakow, PL
04/10 Hydrozagadka, Warsaw, PL
04/11 X120, Vilnius, LT
04/12 Sveta Bar, Tallinn, EE
04/13 Kuudes Linja, Helsinki, FIN
04/16 Musikens Hus, Gothenburg, SE
04/17 Loppen, Copenhagen, DK
04/18 Hafenklang, Hamburg, DE
04/19 Ekko, Utrecht, NL
04/20 Bumann & Sohn, Cologne, DE
04/21 UT Connewitz, Leipzig, DE
04/22 Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
04/23 Hafen 2, Offenbach, DE
04/25 Forum, Tunbridge Wells, UK
04/26 Fabric, London, UK
04/27 The Lanes, Bristol, UK
04/28 Workman’s Club Dublin, IE
04/29 Ulster Sports Club, Belfast, UK
05/02 Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
05/03 Bodega, Nottingham, UK
05/04 Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
05/05 Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, UK
05/06 YES, Manchester, UK
05/07 Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
05/09 Trabendo, Paris, FR