Release of the Week 11/3: Kirklandd ‘Impulse’
Fresh from Canberra’s underappreciated music scene, Kirklandd has released ‘Impulse’, a dance ready track that blends electronica and hip-hop. The song itself, co-produced by Cam Bluff (Amy Shark, Allday) and Citizen Kay, was released back in February. However, the music video, filmed on location in Canberra, was released last Friday.
The track itself is noteworthy for its balance between modern electronic beats, a soft but progressive pop chorus and 90s inspired hip/hop verses. It is dark and moody, but has a steady beat to keep feet moving. With a very ‘lost-in-the-night’ tale of chasing love and boozy impulses, Kirklandd tells a tale through his rapping. While at times it feels out of place, with Kirklandd taking on a strong American accent, his flow is strong enough to tell a story. The best performance comes from guest vocalist Zellow, who gives a smooth falsetto hook that softly melds with the more electronic chorus.
While the song might not amaze listeners, the music video will. Shot in one-take, the film clip blasts Kirklandd with different flashing lights and strong visual imagery, synchronised to the beat. With cool, neon blues and purples combines with shots of clouds and skylines, it creates a strong visual aesthetic that matches the track’s dark and moody tone. The clip is filmed entirely in one take. This filmic choice is noteworthy for how the one-take translates visually to an uninterrupted and continuous array of visual stimuli. It makes for a visual experience rather than a music video.
“I wanted to create a visual world around the experience the song explores, conveying the emotion of the track vividly through the colours in the clip and the speed at which they’re executed. It was crucial we nailed it in one take, so you feel the immediacy of acting on your impulse and the emotions felt after doing so,” highlighted Kirklandd.
Kirklandd will be launching ‘Impulse’ at Mr. Wolf in Canberra on Saturday, March 23 featuring performances from Neko Pink, Mondecreen and Small Talk.
