by Niccolo Dante Porcello (@chromechompsky)
Philadelphia, PA’s Lantern has released a video for “Happy” a song off of their upcoming album Black Highways and Green Garden Roads. The video, much like the song, exists in a dreamy marsh, with a silvery patina obscuring any image too definite. Literally – there are points in the video in which the effects make it wholly unclear what is happening; however, this serves to highlight the moments when there is clarity. Between some serious drum polishing, and keyboard fetishism, the band (presumably Lantern themselves, in this dream-state) sets up for a rehearsal, or perhaps, show, on the very bed this dream takes place on. The video is beautiful to look at, courtesy of Carrie Yotter’s camera work and editing. Small shimmers of light dominate the video, and make for something of a stoned kaleidoscope look.
The song itself is a twinkly, sonically lush pop song along the lines of early Youth Lagoon or Woods. Analog warmth is all over “Happy”, and Lantern keep everything clearly on the field of play. There are few surprises, and the end result is an astoundingly listenable song that conveys a distinct and somewhat seasonal weightlessness. There is spring-ishness all over “Happy”, and the samples of wind/passing cars/general whooshing that bookend the track mark it for the transient moment that it is. Here and gone in three minutes, both the song and video float through your day, content with their place in the world.