In the middle of a mammoth 50-plus EU and UK tour, Earth Tongue have stopped to share their blistering new single, “Out of This Hell”.
The thunderous and theatrical single, the third taste of the fuzz-rock duo’s forthcoming album, Great Haunting, is loosely based on the bubonic plague, capturing the imagery of plucky physicians who tended to plague victims in the 16th and 17th centuries. You know the haunting sight: ominous figures wearing truly terrifying beak-like masks, all-black capes billowing at their back.
Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons recruited The Beths’ Jonathan Pearce on synthesiser for the track, and the addition of a spooky synth intro felt apt given “Out of This Hell” had already been chosen as the album’s opener.
The accompanying music video, directed by Levi Cranston, was filmed against the stunning backdrop of Anawhata and Whites Beach on the west coast of Auckland. A gothic horror fantasy soon emerged, and Larkin couldn’t wait to “unleash some screams like a wannabe scream queen.”
“I even cried real tears for this! There’s something a little spooky about the west coast, particularly at night when you’re standing in the cold wielding a knife for the camera. It’s such a wild, remote coastline and there weren’t any houses or people around for miles. I think that helped me with channelling that sense of isolation and turmoil,” she adds.
“Out of This Hell” follows previous album singles “Bodies Dissolve Tonight!” and “Grave Pressure”, the latter of which also came accompanied by another cinematic music video, shot on 16mm film by Tom Mannion and inspired by classic B-horror films of the ’70s and ’80s.
Now based in Europe as they tour the continent, Earth Tongue recently wrapped up an Aotearoa tour, which followed a showcase at SXSW and a support slot for US rock titans Queens of the Stone Age in Auckland.
Earth Tongue’s “Out of This Hell” is out now. Great Haunting is out Friday, June 14th via In the Red Records (pre-save/pre-order here).
