The latest offering from Sydney's Jovi Skyler, 'Tattoos' builds on his previous release ('Danger Land'), mining that early '90s grunge, alt rock sound to great affect.
Strains of Elliott Smith tones can be heard throughout, as can the melancholic, weary, drained vocals synonymous with so many '90s grunge acts, Jovi's own nasally-inflictions likely to transport old timers back to a world of MTV and VHS tapes."'Tattoos' is a track that concerns loneliness, depression, suicidal ideation and the courage to endure and overcome," Jovi says.
"I think people reflect on life more now than ever, because of what the pandemic has brought upon or exacerbated in some; I like to think 'Tattoos' kinda represents a sort of modern depression."
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (12 November), scenestr is pumped to premiere the music video (which wouldn't look out of place on a '90s MTV playlist) for 'Tattoos' today. Enjoy.
"The title of the song is a metaphor about the thoughts, feelings and life experiences that leave a tattoo on our mind," adds Jovi.
"Tattoos themselves tend to express something personal, sometimes cryptic or they might bear painful memories and in that sense, even though they are a part of us, they are toxic if we are consumed by them on a daily basis."
Jovi isn't shy either about leaning hard into the grunge, alternative sounds of the early '90s, "I'm a big fan of the early '90s, so it's obvious a lot of my influences come from the grunge era," he says.
"I don't know what inspires me lyrically, maybe it's the moon? But it definitely has to do with emotion, so if I'm in the right mood, then I would say that motivates me to create."
As for creating the music video, it was another DIY project Jovi threw himself into wholeheartedly.
"I tried to create a dreamy nostalgic aesthetic for 'Tattoos'. I used footage from 'About A Son' [2006 movie about Kurt Cobain], then self-filmed the parts where I'm in the clip.
"I started working on the music video during lockdown. There was a great deal of time spent in editing to create a story that would perfectly reflect on the song that I had written.
"I wanted to capture a person's journey from birth to death, when your life flashes before your eyes. I like the visuals to be impactful and to complement the lyrics. Hopefully, it'll shine through to the audience."
