Have you got any talismans? You know, the objects that for some reason have stuck around for years. You’re unable to let go of these things. Maybe it’s a stuffed animal, a book you read as a teenager, or that shirt that will never quite fit.
For Mark Andrew Hamilton, a photograph of a group of girls moments before the start of a race (see below) stayed with him for almost two decades. The faded yellow snapshot is striking, focusing our attention on the foregrounded girl’s sole determination, fists clenched, expression tense, mind aimed only at the finish line. The image is a universal exemplum of the competition of life; while some are hardly aware they’re in the race, others have their eyes on the prize.
When Hamilton joined forces with Kathryn Calder (vocals and keyboards for The New Pornographers), the image guided them in the studio, and (it’s safe to say) the name of their new band: Frontperson. Likewise, their single and video for “Tick-Tock (Frontrunner),” featuring athletes in reverse, is heavily informed by the photograph. The video is a commentary on the futility of exercise as an inability to alter the aging process. No matter how much we sculpt our bodies, there’s no way we’re reverting back to our spry young selves.
The duo recorded at the National Music Centre in Calgary, a facility that houses a smorgasbord of synthesizers, which just sounds like tons of fun. Frontrunner releases September 21 via Calder’s Oscar St. Records, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pre-order now. Watch the clip for “Tick-Tock (Frontrunner)” below:
Frontrunner tracklisting:
01. U. O. I.
02. Long Night
03. Tick-Tock (Frontrunner)
04. He Follows Me
05. Young Love
06. Shorter Days
07. This City is Mine
08. Postcards From a Posh Man
09. Insight
More about: Frontperson
