Ahead of their European tour this May with Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Mess Esque, featuring the Australian duo of Mick Turner (Dirty Three) and Helen Franzmann (McKisko), have shared the video for their latest single ‘Crow’s Ash Tree‘. Taken from their third album, Jay Marie, Comfort Me, out now on Drag City.
Denny Ryan directed the music video, and Helen’s niece, Sofia Carroll, made the masks the band wore. The opening feels like it’s being played through a veil of soft, hushed distortion before being lifted to hear Helen, accompanied by strings, sing: “Crows Ash looking back at me, the rest is noise…“, whispering, “We could see your inner organs / they were jellyfish blue“. These moments of sonic lift give the song that feeling of constant evolving change, notably Turner’s contemplative guitar solo followed by another verse from Helen to more gentle sweeping strings before that veil of sound returns.
Like the couple in the video, it’s more complex than you first appreciate – one goes about cooking while the other draws a monster resembling the mask worn by Helen. The song’s emotional weight plays with your perception, it feels both complex and beautiful, and whatever experience shaped it, the results are quite unforgettable.
Mess Esque European Tour Dates
w/ Bonnie “Prince” Billy
May 10th @ Het Depot– Leuven, BE
May 11th @ Arenberg – Antwerp, BE
May 12th @ Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NL
May 13th @ Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
May 15th @ Wilde Westen – Kortrijk, BE
May 16th @ Le Tetris – Le Havre, FR
May 17th @ Stereolux – Nantes, FR
May 18th @ La Cigale – Paris, FR
Order Jay Marie, Comfort Me: https://messesque.bandcamp.com/album/jay-marie-comfort-me
