TOURISTS release a mesmeric new video for ‘Align’ – Watch Now

TOURISTS release a mesmeric new video for ‘Align’ - Watch Now

Today, TOURISTS present a mesmeric new video for ‘Align’. A single that stands as their first new material in over two years, the band’s insurgent comeback track is now accompanied with visuals that supercharge its dizzying momentum.

Produced and directed by Callum Earnshaw and Andy Hopper, the video was filmed at The Spanish Barn: an 800-year-old barn at Torre Abbey. While also a venue of historic significance, The Spanish Barn was purposefully selected for its direct locality to the band’s base in Torquay where new single ‘Align’ was created.

The selection of venue may have been directly inputted by Tourists, but that aside, Earnshaw and Hopper were offered something of a blank canvas for the rest of the shoot. Letting their imaginations flow, the videographers created their own visual interpretation for ‘Align’; a cascade of dystopian and industrial symbolism, hypnotic strobing and enigmatic codings that both disorient the viewer and enhance the track’s high-wire tension.

Reflecting on the experience of creating the ‘Align’ Video, Callum Earnshaw explains:

” The Spanish Barn is a pretty unique and special location and we knew that we wanted to transform the space into something even more spectacular. We brought in projection guru Tim Dollimore from The Media Workshop to project Andy’s chaotic animations onto three walls in order to create the sense of immersive movement with the projections, which suited the dynamics and tempo of the track perfectly.”

A darkly exhilarating rush of shoegaze-washed atmospherics and breathtaking pace, ‘ Align ’ is the first new music from tourists in over two years. A track that ruminates on the concept of interpersonal manipulation and control, ‘Align’ arrives as something of a statement of intent from a band looking to cast off the shackles and take back control of their destiny.

With the momentum of a string of successful single releases to their name – including ‘Cut and Run’ which landed in the Spotify Global Viral 50 chart with over 500,000 plays, plus the support of top online tastemakers ( DIY, CLASH, The 405 ), and the thrill of playing to a packed-out tent at Glastonbury Festival on the BBC Introducing stage, in 2017 – Tourists had what many bands would do anything for. But as label and touring pressures began to mount, the band instead made the bold decision to step away from it all. Calling an indefinite hiatus, Tourists instead went into studio hibernation and set about making the music they had always dreamed of…

Check out the video for ‘Align’ – BELOW:

Re-emerging in 2019, ‘Align’ is the joyous first indication of exactly what they’ve been up to. If ’Align’ recalls the dreamy, reverb-laced, widescreen soundscapes that hallmark some of US’ finest indie exports, it may come as little surprise that the band have enlisted Daniel Schlett at the infamous Strange Weather Studios in Brooklyn to place his inimitable production signature on it. Having searched high and low these last few years for a producer who could see eye-to-eye on their vision, it was eventually a chance encounter with Schlett in Brooklyn on the Williamsburg Bridge that would bring the two together. With an impressive studio knowhow, an experimental creative approach, not to mention his notable work with the likes of The War On Drugs and DIIV (of whom he had been instrumental in defining their ‘mid-fi’ sound); it became instantly clear that Schlett was the man for the job.

Align was engineered by Tourists and James Bragg (Gengahr/Altered Images/ Muncie Girls) at the band’s rehearsal space in Torquay. It was further mastered by Simon Heyworth h and Bill Sellar of Super Audio Mastering (Brian Eno / Imogen Heap / Nick Cave).

Returning on re-energised form and promising even more from these fruitful sessions of the last two years, ‘Align’ is only the tip of the iceberg.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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