VIDEO PREMIERE | Penelope Antena, "Alan"

Penelope Antena surveying skies of hope and fields of dreams; press photo courtesy of the artist / Youngbloods.

Esteemed Belgian-French artist Penelope Antena recently released the experimental aesthetics of the album Beamorose via the Youngbloods imprint, blending a world of warmth and wonder into a bouquet compendium of sounds and sensations. The descendant of Marc Moulin (of Aksak Maboul, Placebo, Telex) and daughter of Isabelle Powaga (Antena) follows up Antelope with a song cycle that takes cues from the Americana heartland, inspired from a trip to the Midwest and production supplied by Brendan Forrest alongside an array of inspired talents.

Airy and sparse arrangements allows the feelings to resonate organically with the opener "One For Lewis", the tent revival salvation show of "Bye Honey", the electric endearment of "20 Down", celestial musings on "Heaven", oscillating atmospheres with "Ensonique", a spirited cover and update of John Martyn's "Back to Stay", to the romantic and nearly breathless sway of "Colors When You Breathe". The convection systems are observed with heart on the piano lead "Matt Poisson", rustic ruminations on the "Prairie", chamber ballads at the gates of dawn with "If It's Not Morning", heart break reckonings of "What To Do When They Don't Love You Back", closing it out with the sobering and sleepy-eyed Peter Hatch duet "Crack Cocaine" that seeks out something of genuine substance.

Presenting the debut of the wintry family home movie visual for "Alan", gingerly whisking together winter vibes and warm vintage memories. A snowed-in setting with a VHS flicker provides the perfect accompaniment to the gentle keys that stir thoughts of all those old familiar places we have been, the dear people we have known, the folks we have lost along the way and the ways their lives and impact carries on through the present. From down home scenes of growing up to carnival outings on a sunny day — Penelope shuffles together the sounds, the theater of the mind and the sentiments of heart and spirit in a somber ode to the events, individuals and holidays of the past that still lighten up the nooks and cubbies of our consciousness. "Alan" musically and visually mimics the human spark of reminiscence, where recollections alight with that fireplace crackle of emotive embers and serene silks of flame shining perspectives that look in the rearview like a video spool carousel cavalcade of meaningful memories that materialize in the analogue resolution of fuzzy old celluloid film.

Penelope basking in valleys of flora & fauna; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Penelope provided some reflections on the song and visuals for “Alan”:

To me, “Alan” feels melancholic, like something from your childhood you’d find in a box in your parents’ attic. The super affected electric guitar, the choppy piano, make it almost out of this world yet very familiar. I wanted the music video to transcribe that feeling. This family building their first house, the siblings a few years apart, the fair, it’s my childhood, it’s our childhood.

Penelope Antena’s album Beamorose is available now via Youngbloods.