Norway-via-Wales, band Firewoodisland dropped a rebel-yell of a new video this week for their forthcoming single “Simon” (officially out November 10). With an effortless energy akin to The Mowgli’s or Racing Glaciers, the band has a contained yet not constrained, stage-ready sound and story-telling quality characteristic of classic folk.
Where many music videos detract, distract, or just don't make sense, the video for "Simon" perfectly complements the song's lyrical sentimentalities. The rich imagery (tight frames of the band putting on warpaint, running barefoot through riverbeds and traipsing through the a carpet of fallen pine needles), combined with the warm male / female vocal harmonies and free-flying flutes and fluttering guitar, makes us feel like we’re going “just around the riverbend.” But the comparisons to Pocahontas will end here, because these soldiers of song sound more like a fleet of Celtic Vikings than harem of Disney Princesses; the former being the band’s chosen sub-category of indie folk. The end scene is filmed in open clearing with a powder paint-bomb war, and you just feel the fun seeping through your screen.
“Simon” is a beautiful battle-cry of a ballad, starting soft like a babbling brook then building to a rolling river, splashing into your speakers. Watch the video below and then check out these “Norwelshians” via their socials because they'll be pillaging (in a good way) our playlists and camping out on our computers for the foreseeable future.
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