"Every Single Day" by The Eyes of Isabel
Review
Most of the cast both musical & cinematic for the new Eyes of Isabel single "Every Single Day" will be immediately familiar to readers of past reviews of the band.
Another Tony Ally composition realised by John Rivers at Woodbine Street Studio in Leamington with both John & his colleague Ollie pitching in on the performance side as well as production side, this time Ian Black (of Man Made Moon and The RedHills) who guested on guitar on the previous single "Black Mamba" returns to add six and twelve sting guitar ("possibly the cleanest guitar sounds ever created" as he puts it) so maybe he's now a long term member of the team too.
On the inevitable film side (it's not possible to conceive of an Eyes of Isabel release without one: it's symbiosis) it's the established team of Andy McGeechan and Adam O'Neill who take the credit for the production (and both actually act in this one too). At this point multiple interpretative forces come into play as they always do and while this time I don't think that Andy goes off on extreme a tangent from Tony's original narrative intentions as he did with say "Crime Scene", once again a complex (even though short) plot illustrates a simple & abiding truth which as Tony puts it about "..when we lose the people that we love in our lives as long as we carry them in our hearts they will always be with us every single day..". Eyes of Isabel songs don't tend to shy away from the more difficult & less pleasant sides of life, but generally the films incline to leavening these via humour or through the filter of classic cinematic style. "Every Single Day" though is heavier on the heartstrings.
You can see at at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmWJvXNJhVw
The piano & organ (John I assume) set a tone which at one end of the spectrum is gothically morbid (or morbidly gothic) and even away from that leans towards the melancholic. Given that the narrative is about a chap losing his wife, that's perfectly suitable & shows the band to be capable of covering an emotional range. "Bittersweet" covers most of the story of how his memories (which are dramatized in the video) help him come to terms with his bereavement in a touching way. You can understand why they went for that clean guitar sound: this is no rock song and doesn't need an approach any heavier than the words & melody have already given us.
Filmed in Berkswell & London Road Cemetery, as noted Tony, Andy & Adam play roles as does Eyes of Isabel film regular Tracey Gillan and Leo Ally. With the exception of the rather over-dramatised hospital interaction, it's told visually quite gently (the location scenes are pastoral) and the two media work harmoniously together to tell the tale.
