Posted by Dead Nature is a new project from a familiar figure.
Tarek Musa led Spring King to critical acclaim, while his on-point production skills have been put to use by The Big Moon, Gengahr, and Dream Nails.
New project Dead Nature spins his songwriting in a fresh context, with the woozy synths and alt-pop textures reconstituting an 80s aesthetic from a 2k21 vantage point.
Out now, ‘Red Clouds’ is a neat introduction, with its lilting vocal melody and astute lyric betraying an off piste sense of wit.
There’s a faint pang of nostalgia in the arrangement, one which is amplified in the video, which taps into memories of old 90s shopping channels.
“I remember the evenings as a kid when I couldn’t fall asleep,” he recalls. “I’d find my way downstairs to put on the TV which many a night reminded me that I wasn’t alone. It gave me comfort to know that somewhere in the world someone was awake right now with me. Those shopping channels way at the back were always so surreal; mind numbing to watch, yet addictive.”
“When I had the idea for the ‘Red Clouds’ video I wanted to portray that strange nostalgia associated with those TV stations, the idea of this guy performing to no-one in the middle of the night, looking to sell a couple copies of his latest single however possible. The low-budget, conveyor belt style nature of those productions.”
“In some ways it has reflected a feeling that has come back during the past year of lockdown life in which I’ve found myself staying up late again, sleepless, night after night, mindlessly searching the web for things to entertain me, things to distract me, anything whatsoever. Let’s take a scroll past the graveyard-shift news presenters, sports shows and history re-runs.”
Turek adds: “Way beyond the preachers, and many digits after the international stations you will find me, Dead Nature, for one night only, performing on your favourite shopping channel DNTV.”
Surreal yet engaging, ‘Red Clouds’ is a memorable starting off point for an artist whose work we’ve admired for around a decade now.
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Khalil Musa
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