"Lust" by The Eyes of Isabel
Review
I'm not sure that Tony Ally, the Eyes of Isabel songwriter, is keen on ambiguity as such in his songs: clarity seems more important. Nevertheless, they do vary considerably in terms of complexity: seem being quite simple, others requiring virtual essays from him to inform my reviews.
Where any ambiguity may seep in a bit is where film maker Andy McGeechan elects to visualise a distinct narrative In the accompanying video. With their latest, "Lust" however, it's as straightforward as you might conceive of. "The song is about infatuation and lust" says its writer. It's a subject probably best kept simple: taking a leaf perhaps from Buzzcocks' "Just Lust".
With lustre added by John Rivers at Woodbine Street as usual, aided by Sam Thomas who also plays guitar (and this is one of the band's most guitar centred tracks), this is the Eyes of Isabel at their poppiest.
The jaunty tune rather belies (presumably deliberately) the song of unrequited attraction, but characteristically Andy takes it into other territory visually: shot (at Coombe Abbey Country Park and Hawkesbury Junction) with the aid of video editor Adam O'Neill's drone, the tone is lush lust but the tale more creepy: there are passages of voyeurism before the ultimate bonding, but this is offset by some rather outrageous humour: the "bird watching" motif being a parody of 1970s British film as is the wolf whistle which I imagine was added in the studio. The summer feel that Tony & team detected in the recording (which dates back to the winter) dictated the filming and release be held back until now to fit the season best.
The casting keeps it accordingly simple too: just Tony, frequent collaborator Tracey Gillan (whose face is kept from our gaze, suggesting enigma) & newcomer Bo the dog.
Check it all out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlF6g3OMvNk
