In less than a month, indie songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou will reveal her new album, Paper Castles. January gave us one of the LP’s promising early singles, “Skin Crawl”, which we at Consequence of Sound quickly added to our New Sounds playlist. Today, Lou has unboxed another track with “Galaxies”.
While Lou teased jazzy indie rock arrangements on “Skin Crawl”, the newest offering plays with more experimental, avant-garde textures — and rather fittingly, considering its intergalactic themes. Born in South Africa, but now based in Berlin, Lou contemplates her place in the universe, per a press statement:
“Space had become such a theme in my life & music, not in a scientific way but more in a metaphorical sense; drawing parallels between a planet in the expansive universe & the way that one’s tiny & seemingly insignificant existence interacts with the world. This song is about being nothing & everything. Abut being overwhelmed by the weight of existence while simultaneously being in awe & wonder of it all.”
“Galaxies” already had me reminded of Björk, but with the track’s music video, I’m almost convinced Lou and the experimental Icelandic artist are somehow kindred spirits. Directed by Chloë Lewer and Andrea Ariel, with additional animated design by Hagen Schönfeld, the surreal clip follows Lou as she floats amongst the planets. A story of a fallen star who ends up living a regular life on Earth, it was filmed in Berlin, partially at an ex-military Soviet training ground.
Check it out below.
Paper Castles arrives March 8th. Lou has announced an extensive supporting tour that will take her to North America and Europe.
Alice Phoebe Lou 2019 Tour Dates:
03/03 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
03/04 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
03/05 – Boston, MA @ Cafe 939
03/07 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java
03/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
03/10 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
03/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl at Center Stage
03/13-17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW 2019
03/20 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
03/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
03/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
03/24 – Portland, OR @ Old Church Concert Hall
03/25 – Seattle, WA @ Barboz
04/05 – Istanbul, TU @ Salon IKSV
04/06 – Istanbul, TU @ Salon IKSV
04/10 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
04/11 – Dresden, DE @ Polimagie Festival
04/13 – Hanover, DE @ Faust
04/15 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
04/16 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
04/17 – London, UK @ Earth
04/18 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
04/20 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli
04/21 – Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis
04/23 – Aachen, DE @ Kulturbunker
04/24 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
04/26 – Vienna, AT @ Flex
04/28 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum
04/29 – Erlangen, DE @ E-Werk
05/01 – Friberg, DE @ Jazzhaus
05/02 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
05/03 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
05/04 – Stuttgart, DE @ Im Wizemann
05/06 – Cologne, DE @ Kulturkirche
05/07 – Mainz, DE @ Kuz
05/08 – Kiel, DE @ Pumpe
05/09 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
05/11 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
05/30-06/01 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/27-30 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
