Brian Elliot is a rather new artist to the Nashville music scene and, as such, we are happy to premiere the video for his second ever single “Better Than Dead.” If you have not heard the first single, “Blue Jean Girl“, do yourself a favor and earmark that for listening later; it’s a dose of dark pop that fittingly sets the stage for Elliot’s sound.

The second single offering, embedded above, is a densely layered lamentation on the pains of loneliness. Through fuzzed out guitars, dramatically sweeping strings and the occasionally bouncy piano, Elliot asks “is lonely really better than dead?” It’s a feeling we’ve all considered during the worst depths of a breakup but the delivery here is less despair and more detached coolness.

Visually, the grainy Super 8 footage shot in the deserts of the Southwest, or in (what appears to be) a wonderfully lit hip hotel room help to augment that sensation of wistful searching. Where better to ponder the weight of emptiness than in the vast, literal, emptiness of the desert?

Elliot’s full-length, Familiar Walk To Nowhere, is set for release in the not too distant future and we’ll be keeping an ear out for future news about when it drops. In the meantime, look him up on Spotify or follow him on Instagram at @brianelliotsound.

Way back in April of 2018, we played the track “Tap Twice” from Katy Kirby; an absolutely infectious ditty that has remained in regular rotation. Over the course of the last few years we’ve been keeping an ear out for new works from Kirby and it seems that 2021 will be the year that we are rewarded for our patience with the release of Cool Dry Place, the debut full-length from Kirby on Keeled Scales.

Along with that joyous news is the release of the official video for the single “Traffic.” It’s every bit as infectious as “Tap Twice” and functions as an exciting peek at the contents of the full album. Most importantly tho, the video is hilariously entertaining. It’s a real life cartoon that finds Kirby getting hit by traffic, dunked in a lake, smashed with pinatas, shot with an arrow and blown up with dynamite – just to name a few of the abuses.

While it’d be easy to view these antics as merely a conduit of entertainment, the plot actually serves as an appropriate partner to the lyrics. I’m projecting but it seems to be an empowered break-up song, as well as a reminder that we all struggle with whatever our current path in life is. Kirby’s refrain of “No one has it better than you” paired with a literal strike of lightning is a good reminder that we’re all trying our best.

Pre-order the album on Bandcamp, follow Kirby on Instagram @katykirbs and play this new video a time or three; it’s a joyous undertaking.