- Music
- 06 Aug 15
'Paul' is an in-yer-face gem
Girl Band have unveiled the video for 'Paul', their new single which trails the September 25 release through Rough Trade of their Holding Hands With Jamie album.
It features lots of faces, of which former Pogues and Prenup singer Cait O'Riordan's is one of the more familiar.
“The idea came about from shooting an audition tape for my friend Kate for a kids TV show job," director Bob Gallagher explains. "She'd curse if a take didn't work out, which in the context I thought was hilarious. I've often watched kids TV with my Goddaughters, and every time I do I can't help but wonder what it's like for the actors behind the scenes. What the dynamics are like? There's such a sheen on those shows of happiness that I thought it would be interesting to look at the flip side of that with a character who is full of self loathing but has to literally wear a big grin on his face.
"While I was researching I watched a documentary about Big Bird and there's a line in where he Carol Spinney says that a woman was complimenting his performance but that she couldn't see that inside the costume he was crying. It's quite tragic. I think everyone has experiences of having to put on an outward expression and feeling trapped, so Paul's costume is a visual extension of that. He's inside the suit, at a distance from everybody around him, but wearing this absurd smile that's totally false to what's going on inside.
"When the pressure of living that life comes to a head he gets to be himself, and in a bizarre way he gets acceptance from his hero Big Rooster, so I see it as a bizarre but happy ending.”
You'll be able to catch the chaps live on September 6 at Electric Picnic, with a smattering of headline shows here in October and November.