When Yeasayer released the video for the first single from their new album Fragrant World titled “Henrietta,” they announced that the video was created by Japanese artist Yoshi Sodeoka and they also said that it was a “vignette to take drugs to.” When viewing the vignette you see that it is a perfectly plausible suggestion, considering the visual was composed of tranquil images trapped inside of a trippy kaleidoscope to go along with the soothing song.
The second single from Fragrant World, “Longevity,” is as trippy as the vignette that goes with it. The echoing vocals of Chris Keating belting out soulful thoughts of existence like “To give life to the seas, sea / Live, in the moment / Never count on longevity, please.” The tune whines on with distorted percussion, bleeps, and synths. Hints of glitch music makes itself known in “Longevity” with random broken computer noises accompanying the live instruments that make an appearance on all of Yeasayer’s songs. As the song comes to an end, an amazing violin solo from fellow psychedelic pop artist, Kishi Bashi, which adds as proper closure for the song.
It is rare that there are songs that you can literally feel, but the weird audible texture that “Longevity” creates makes you think that you can actually reach out and touch the song. Maybe it’s the layering or maybe it’s the drugs that the vignette is for, but the song has a consistency to it that you have to hear to believe.
As mentioned before, the vignette to “Longevity” is as warped as the song, with the Yoshi Sodeoka-created visual being less tranquil than the one for “Henrietta.” This twisted visualizer throbs with psychedelic colors while morphing into different scenes of nature in the background. Fragrant World is due to be released August 20 in Europe and August 21 in North America.