By Charlie Maybee
This reading of Alchemical Records content provides a multimedia experience for our audience while increasing the accessibility of our content to persons with hearing loss, low vision, dyslexia, physical or motor disabilities, or are on the autism spectrum.
Montreal-based metalcore band, Ocean Drive, just released their new music video for “Losing Sight” on January 13, which takes aim at government-sanctioned racism in the city of Quebec.
Before leaping out of the starting gate, the video starts quietly with an epitaph by late American philosopher John Rawls written on dirty paper lying on the floor among shattered glass: “The fairest rules are those to which everyone would agree if they did not know how much power they would have.”
Once the music kicks into some brutal metal riffs, the visual also shifts to shots of the band performing in saturated neon colors. Over the course of the video, we return to images of the quote slowly burning away with the paper it’s written on.
Originally released as a single in November 2021, the song stands firm in “denouncing the adoption of Quebec’s Bill 21 that targets minority groups (primarily Muslims and Jewish people), forcing them to choose between their faith or access to jobs in the public sector. With this bill, the government is fueling the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the province leading to acts of senseless violence.”
There’s a lyrical bite to the song that is simultaneously vicious and blunt. As the chorus charges forward, the well-crafted screams cry out, “I think you’re losing sight of what is right / Begging for their life you let them down / You just might be truly blinded by the fact.” As the epitaph slowly burns, it acts as a symbolic reminder that when something is out of sight, it is often out of mind as well, and that includes the ability for logic and reason.
“Losing Sight” is available on major streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. The accompanying music video is also available on YouTube. Follow our Alchemical Weekly YouTube Playlist for more great music featured on the site.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
Allie Goertz is back with a brand new, mature, raw, and honest version of herself with “Peeled Back”: a tribute to Nine Inch Nails.
On June 21, D.C.-based pop-rock artist LJR released “You”, the fifth single from his forthcoming album “When the Sky Began to Fall”.
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Allie Goertz is back with a brand new, mature, raw, and honest version of herself with “Peeled Back”: a tribute to Nine Inch Nails.
On June 21, D.C.-based pop-rock artist LJR released “You”, the fifth single from his forthcoming album “When the Sky Began to Fall”.
The D.C.-based band released their sophomore album, “The Renewal”, on June 30th.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
