Watch Merchandise’s “Crystal Cage” Video:
Merchandise released their A Corpse Wired For Sound LP via 4AD this past September. The recent effort found the band stripped back to core members Carson Cox (vocals, electronics), Dave Vassalotti (guitar, electronics) and Pat Brady (bass). Recorded in a studio in Rosΰ, Italy, as well as at home in some of Cox’s various outposts like Tampa, New York, and Berlin, 4AD reports that the album was also a “long-distance collaboration between Cox and Vassalotti”. Named after a short story by science fiction writer JG Ballard, Cox says that the album’s themes revolve around what it means to “grow up”, explaining, “You cant take your friends or lovers with you. Its about finding peace with that loneliness.
Today, we watch the band’s new video for “Crystal Cage“. Directed by Carson Cox and shot in Palermo, Sicily, the kaleidoscopic visuals mirror this tracks woozy, psychedelic sound. Following a shrouded protagonist, as well as Cox himself, he says:
“In this video we find an ambiguous man-spirit wandering a strange psychic realm caught between reality and an impossible dream place or paradise. The mirror, which has made an appearance in a lot of Merchandise videos, is made to be the wall or passage point between life, mystery, and an inner psychic realm”.
Merchandise On Tour
Merchandise are currently touring Europe through November, before returning to the US for a string of shows to close out the year. Check out the dates below…
October
26th Tape, Aarhus, Denmark *
27th Stengade, Copenhagen, Denmark *
28th Nr.z.P, Bielefeld, Germany *
29th Westwek, Leipzig, Germany *
30th Tiefgrund, Berlin, Germany *
31st S105, Amsterdam, Netherlands *
November
2nd The Lexington, London, UK *
3rd The Castle Hotel, Manchester, UK *
4th Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, UK *
5th Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK ^
7th Rotonde Botanique, Brussels, Belgium *
8th Mecanique Ondulatoire, Paris, France *
9th Rφssli, Bern, Switzerland *
11th Cox, Milan, Italy *
12th i Vizi del Pellicano, Correggio, Italy *
13th C.S. Rivolta, Marghera, Italy *
14th Mocvara, Zagreb, Croatia *
15th Posthof, Linz, Austria *
16th Cafι V lese, Prague, Czech Republic *
26th 89th Street Collective, Oklahoma City OK, US %
28th Hi-Dive, Denver CO, US %
30th Neurolux, Boise ID, US %
December
1st Barboza, Seattle WA, US %
2nd Fortune, Vancouver BC, Canada %
3rd Mississippi Studios, Portland OR, US %
5th Harlows, Sacramento CA, US %
6th Swedish, San Francisco CA, US %
7th Moes, Santa Cruz CA, US %
9th Hideout, San Diego CA, US %
10th The Echo, Los Angeles CA, US %
11th Valley Bar, Phoeniz AZ, US %
12th Sister, Albuquerque NM, US %
14th Paper Tiger, San Antonio TX, US %
15th Sidewinder, Austin TX, US %
16th Walters, Houston TX, US %
17th Siberia, New Orleans LA, US %
* w/ EZTV
^ w/ Preoccupations
% w/ Gun Outift
