A sleeping octopus changes color while dreaming. An active octopus changes color, temperament, and turns itself inside-out in fits of sensory wonderment while listening to BeMyDelay. Marcella Riccardi’s music has that effect on most beings — regardless of the number of limbs — from mammal to mollusk. Today, we have a video premiere of “If I,” a highlight from the latest BeMyDelay album Bloom Into Night.
Originally released in March on Boring Machines, Bloom Into Night is Riccardi’s third full-length as BeMyDelay, her primary music project after years spent in collaborations and bands like Massimo Volume, Franklin Delano, and Blake/e/e/e. “If I” is typical of where Riccardi’s at right now with BeMyDelay, evoking the menacing folk sounds found on Vic Chesnutt’s and Carla Bozulich’s beautiful, caustic Constellation Records outings.
And the video is a complete stunner too, with visual artist Sara Bonaventura matching Riccardi’s paean to pain/growth by tabling the visceral elements of fire and water to great effect. There is a deep longing in both the song and the video that conjures up the most basic of battles everyone must face: coping with the complexities of human nature and surrendering to them to heal the burn and the spurn.
Check out the visual hit below, and go here to snag BeMyDelay’s Bloom Into Night. Keep your fingers crossed for some 2020 North American tours dates (a European tour is penciled in for April), but until those come, save your €s for two Italian shows coming up in December. BeMyDelay plays Marghera (Venice) on December 8 and Milan December 14.