Halfsour released the video for their single, “Ten Year Tenure”, a video just as ironic as it sounds, and we’ve got the exclusive premiere. The video does a perfect job of depicting an utter lack of authenticity in a world where impermanence reigns, where the Boston music scene is always changing, and where a tenure only lasts ten years. The buzz and frenetic urgency of the song couples with images of dolls and doll parts a-la-Chucky, minus the murdering. They do a phenomenal job of making the point that the authentic is disproportionate and kind of gross when you’re living in a fake world. Could this possibly be what it feels like to be an artist living in Boston these days? Maybe.
“The song ‘Ten Year Tenure’ was written out of frustration with the transience of the Boston music scene, but has an undercurrent of understanding and sadness, and a knowledge that Boston is no longer a sustainable place for artists and musicians to live,” admits Halfsour. “It is born out of dark and sad and swirling feelings, and we wanted the video to reflect that. Ari is a friend and a really fantastic artist, so we basically just told her what it was about and then gave her complete creative control. We love her aesthetic a lot.”
It’s actually really interesting how the video is full of symbols that keep pointing to the real thing, but the actual concept it alludes to is, of course, always abstract and beyond our grasp. A real hand wears a doll’s hand like a finger-puppet, and the finger puppet is drawn along models of the body, of palmistry, of our anatomy… These are all real concepts, all only partially grasped by artificial and inauthentic objects that were created in order to help us understand the actual meaning. Nothing is realistic, nothing has follow-through. It’s a superficial plastic world in uncomely colors and with uncomfortable imagery.
The figures in the video are toys because what’s happening in the world today is literally child’s play. At least, that’s what it must feel like to frustrated artists who are no longer living in an environment that supports their craft in a way that can ever be sustainable for them. It’s child’s play without a foreseeable end in sight, only the continued urgency of a fast-paced, buzzing culture that is built within a false reality.
It’s uncomfortable. For us, perhaps due to the frustration and discontent that come from a major reality-check when we realize that this song and video could actually be a mirror of what our world has come to. But the good news? The song itself is upbeat and will keep you moving, distracted, and certainly not dwelling upon the deeper meanings of the song, the video, or life itself. Very cool.
Tour dates:
10/12 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs (Record Release)
10/13 Providence, RI @ News Cafe
10/14 NY, NY @ Cake Shop
10/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Throne Watches (Disposable America Showcase)
10/21 Marlboro, VT @Marlboro College
10/22 Middletown, CT @ TBA
11/3 Northampton, MA @ TBA
11/4 Philadelphia, PA @ The Storefront
11/5 Washington, DC @ TBA
11/11 Durham, NH @ University of New Hampshire
Charm School is out October 14th on Disposable America and Too Far Gone Records. It is available for preorder now.
