"Telekinetic" by The Eyes of Isabel
Review
A great many reviews which I try to write fall into a fairly regular pattern in terms of how I find out about the releases, how the artists intend to share them & the media they tend to favour. Some though plough their own very distinctive furrow with sometimes only limited concessions to contemporary notions of "how things are done": these idiosyncratic mavericks convey their own fascination & enrich the local music scene & this magazine in this way: though of course their work may well possess its own distinctive patterns.
Such are the Eyes of Isabel: by now you know their routine I imagine. A song by Tony Ally which needs to be experienced through the medium of an Andy McGeechan film to get the full meanings, produced by John Rivers at Woodbine Street Studios in Leamington with John, other members of the Woodbine community and occasional other guests chipping in on the musical side plus a cast of other collaborators helping with the subsequent visuals.
This time the single is called "Telekinetic" and the song "…. is about scientists that are fascinated with people with telekinesis powers and the way they want to take blood tests to learn more about them and they will watch and record as the telekinetic people demonstrate their skill.." so Tony advises me.
John added backing vocals and keyboards with Sam Thomas playing guitar. On the filmic side, Adam O'Neill aided Andy this time and the cast includes Kelly Gould (evil nurse), Robert Mann (demented doctor) and Tony portraying a range of roles including a robot, a security guard, a hunter of the telekinetic and a psychotic surgeon.
"Pattern" does not necessarily equate to lack of development though: on the film side, for the first time the team has broken away from the strict "music video" format to add additional dialogue to the track & they've also used green screen, not having done so previously.
There is also a drone involved (courtesy of Adam) though it was used for taking shots & not providing a steady note within the song…..
Musically "Telekinetic" nods its head towards Bond like and edgy thrillers with a corresponding evocation of tension & paranoia but also with touches of 1980s electro-pop for which of course futuristic alienation and taut, stressed-out arrangements were often popular, yet drifting into lusher passages which are a characteristic of the Eyes of Isabel's sound.
Cinematically, although I've loved the humour and heart of so many of Andy's previous films, there is no doubt that technically he's stepped up a gear here as noted above & while those previous attributes are thankfully still there, the "feel" is different, which in the interests of keeping the band's videos fresh is no bad thing.
You can view and listen to "Telekinetic" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8NbVG5N28o
