With their debut EP due in February, Sydney's Dust Of Us share another slice of that release with the hauntingly ethereal indie electronica of 'Punching Bag' featuring guest vocalist Jess Chalker.
Reminiscent of fellow 2000s Australian indie rock, electronic acts Decoder Ring, Jonathan Boulet and New Buffalo (Sally Seltmann), 'Punching Bag' oozes drama and weight, its darker themes highlighted by the lyrics: "If you don't know me now, then you will never know me at all."Dust Of Us is the pairing of brothers Ed and Lloyd Prescott. The journey to create 'Punching Bag' first started on the Central Coast with the brothers recording all the music.
Jess then sung her parts from her London home, before Matthew Neighbour (Matt Corby, The Avalanches) mixed the track in his Los Angeles studio. "It's a pretty dark song about someone emancipating themselves from a dire situation," Ed says of 'Punching Bag'.
"To me, you can read it either as a metaphorical punching bag or literal, ie. from the perspective of someone whose partner physically abuses them.
"Most of the lyrics came out pretty subconsciously but at the time, I was reading Jess Hill's brilliant book 'See What You Made Me Do', and I think some of the themes of that book seeped into the song.
"We asked if our friend Jess Chalker would sing on it, her voice is stunning. It feels simultaneously strong and vulnerable at the same time, and that was what the song required."
Ahead of the song's commercial release tomorrow (18 November), Dust Of Us have shared with scenestr the accompanying music video for 'Punching Bag' that we're delighted to premiere today. Enjoy.
For the video, Dust Of Us teamed with long-time collaborator Thomas Calder (aka Daggy Man) to match some impressive and impactful visuals to the music.
"I used the initial reference ideas/ concepts and the lyrics as a starting off point," Thomas says, "and from there really let my instincts take me where I felt the visuals should go.
"I ended up with quite a chaotic, jarring, abstract, and visually intense little number which I think really suits the song's meaning and emotion."
