Burying The Red Nose
It was two years back when Thor Rixon broke the internet and divided opinion with the release of the video for ‘fuk bread’. The track was initially the lead single for his then forthcoming third album, but the universe expanded and contracted, leaving the ‘fuk bread’ as a standalone moment. Hearing the abstract and indirect, Songs From The Bath, it’s difficult imagining how ‘fuk bread’ would fit into the album both thematically and musically. ‘fuk bread’ grew into its own moment which may have contributed to the delay of the album which saw it’s release at the beginning of this year.
With a great reception of his third album, Thor Rixon, follows it with the release of a performance piece for ‘The Clown’ single. The track goes down the same path as ‘the bath’, the closing track of Songs From The Bath. Steeped in the conventions of tech house, the production reminds me of Jon Hopkins with its percussive patterns and warped basslines.
Historically, clowns have been a vehicle for satire in ridiculing to expose the vices of society which in turn allowed society to let off steam. The video sees Thor Rixon in an unreal world reminiscent of the village in the thriller film of the same name. As in The Village, the antagonists in Thor Rixon’s video are clothed in red as Rixon grapples with his place in and understanding society asking, “Why must I have a cold heart? Why must I have a stone mind? Why must I live under a rock? Why must I keep my eyes blind“. In the same manner the red monsters are created fictitiously by the townspeople, the antagonists in Thor’s video could be of his own making. The red cult could be his own mind as he falls in and out of his sync with it portrayed by him dancing then fighting with the cult throughout the video. It is only once the cult buries Thor Rixon alive that a semblance of normalcy is returned into this world with the grotesque colours returning to normal and a dog coming into frame.
Where ‘fuk bread’ presented a physical unburdening, ‘The Clown’ seems to signify a mental unburdening with Thor Rixon going through an internal discourse and reshaping self once again through the public means of song and performance.
There was no press release and Thor Rixon has no interest in clarifying how this piece of work should be perceived, so you have to watch the video for yourself and decide whether I’m talking bullshit or not. Are we all clowns exaggerating reality whilst ridiculing society internally?
‘The Clown’ was filmed by Rob Wisniewski who also filmed ‘fuk bread’.
