Piney Gir
Piney Gir reveals the video for the new single “Dreamcatcher” created by animator Geoff Howell and featuring a penguin enjoying the freedom of the open road and encountering some interesting characters, a little bit of violence and trouble along the way.
Piney explains more about the video; “It is inspired initially by the desert I sing about in the third verse, but also about the wildness and the freedom the penguin has in his Hot Wheels car, he’s grabbing life by the horns and riding the open road and whatever adventure comes his way, parallels the ‘take-a-risk’ message of the song. When he walks into the truck stop it has that ‘local shop for local people’ vibe where the locals make sure our penguin doesn’t feel welcome. So he’s off again on the open road for the next adventure.
“Geoff does a great job of capturing the freedom and the risks as well as the SoCal vibes of the song with a twisted bit of humour. I love when he throws the pie at the hippy and the cops get involved. I never thought how much that guitar solo sounded like sirens until he put that with a big Thelma and Louise style car chase. Another great one from Geoff Howell!”
“Dreamcatcher” uses driving desert rock to celebrate dreams and warn of dangers ahead. The song is about taking risks and living life on the edge. Swirling psychedelic synths are punctuated by twanging guitar, riff-led basslines and punchy saxophones featuring dreamy vocals spinning to infinity. The track features members of Gaz Coombes’ band, with whom Piney has been touring over the past year, as well as Tom Greenhalf (Man Without Country) and Sweet Baboo on saxophone.
Piney explains more about the track:
“I wrote Dreamcatcher when I was in a dark place, it seemed like absolutely everything had gone wrong, love, work, health, family “best friends” not being good friends, just general hard knocks and feeling pretty isolated while facing some pretty big life stuff. Outwardly I was projecting the usual cheery Piney because that’s what everyone expects from me, but I was the lowest of the low; the lowest I’ve ever been, pretending to be happy was making that isolation even worse. The only way I know how to cope with that emotion is to channel it into something creative and my default setting is hopeful, I am always looking for the silver lining no mater how dark the clouds are. Music is a healthy outlet for me. I feel the most myself when I’m doing music stuff. When I said this album was about mental health, it really was. Without wanting to sound dramatic, I think making this album saved me from utter breakdown. Music is my mental health stabiliser, I feel very lucky to have it as an outlet.”
London-based Piney Gir originally hails from Kansas and has for many years been a prolific musician. She is currently working on album number seven and her new material lands at art pop with angles and spaces creating a real world of sound with deliberate spaces and spikes. There are still echoes of the signature Piney sound, with strong melodies, tuneful riffs and twisted lyrics that sound sweet at first listen and evolve to some kind of dark twisted storytelling. Piney’s inner Laura Palmer emerges with a tender bitter-sweetness, reminiscent of post punk basement bars and cherry martinis.
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