Diamond Thug have released a music video for their song, “Backpush”. It’s a fact that just about a year ago our (and everyone reading this) lives changed course in a way we never expected. A year of big dreams turned into a year of binging old series on screens.
A year of touring plans and festival bookings was interrupted by a cosmic-180 that we were led to believe would be 3 weeks of a loneliness laced in little fear and dread. But as the weeks rolled by it became apparent the pandemic was here to stay, it took some time to process.
The emotions that many of us experienced as a result of the seismic shift in our realities, was similar in nature to the five stages of grief. Many of us remember each stage clearly and looking back with the benefit of hindsight it’s also clear to see how this effected us creatively.
At first we gave each other time to process, to use the opportunity to take a break from the chaos and reconnect with ourselves. It was a really fulfilling time and offered us a much needed break. The break seemed to turn into a weird limbo. To be totally honest many of us probably struggled to adapt to working from afar.
Diamond Thug are a very collaborative band and the limbo of lockdown seemed to make decision making and commitment a whole lot harder. The band wrote a few sketches, some of which some of you’ve heard (like “Empty Streets”) and others of which you’ll hear soon (the band promises to do more this year!).
One of the songs that came from Diamond Thug‘s time in isolation was “Backpush”
The song’s pretty different to anything else we’d released before. While this band normally writes layered music, “Backpush” is just a 4 chord bass riff and 4 to the floor kick, a tambourine, a single synth chord and an honest account of the swirling emotions we felt in the depths of a winter lockdown.
“Backpush” is a song about feeling stuck. Stuck in a place, but also stuck in a self-destructive cycle of one’s own mistakes and self-doubt. It’s about staring at the sun in the depth of winter and coming to terms with the fact that we cannot control everything.
It’s a song that’s also about coming to terms with one’s imperfection and opting for a more playful attitude towards the things you can control. It’s also about accepting that you habitually fuck up, and will continue to do so, but that’s just human nature.
Diamond Thug shot the video for “Backpush” when things started opening up. Chantel walks through the surreal scenes of empty Cape Town streets. The video was shot by the band’s long time collaborator Abigael Thompson and captures the feeling of the song perfectly. It’s a seemingly pointless excursion, in outfits fit for a pre-pandemic social life, loaded with a deep feelings of liberation and frustration.
Check out the music video for Diamond Thug‘s “Backpush” below
You can donwload / stream Diamond Thug‘s new song HERE.
Watch this space for updates in the Music Videos category on SA Music Zone.
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