[Video] Exit Calm - When They Rise

Famed for conceiving and producing the acclaimed Joy Division biopic ‘Control’, Todd Eckert returns with another cut of cinematic splendour in the form of Exit Calm’s latest video for the single ‘When They Rise’. Having first met the band while in the UK filming Control, Eckert travelled to York on the advice of respected musician David Francolini, to watch the band play. Leaving the venue they were further cemented in his mind as “one of the most important bands in the world”. He kept in touch and they’d periodically meet during Todd’s frequent trips to the UK to cast for his latest movie Depravity. It was at such a meeting that Todd conceived the video for the band.

The video begins with four teenagers, who meet in a park to consume what appears to be a ambiguous hallucinogenic. As they quickly succumb to whatever they may have taken, we revert to Victorian Sheffield, where four metal workers toil under the tyrannical watch of Lord Always (played by Oliver Wilson, son of Tony Wilson - Factory Records). As the story unfolds, he presents them the opportunity to escape their plight in the shape of four vials of red liquid. They choose “freedom” - their ensuing deaths symbolised by the four teenagers who gingerly awake from their journey. The resulting story is one of simple heroism amidst a massive soundtrack with lyrical poignancy.

Here’s what Todd had to say of the experience:

“It’s not every band that’s confident enough to allow themselves to be murdered in a four minute video. These guys were something else – they arrived on set open and ready, utterly composed. I asked them to perform under really difficult circumstances and they nailed every scene…I remain now, stunned at how good they were.”

“Their music is pure genius – the assembly of iron and wood because temples must be made. And the avoidance of all that whiny, sexless bullshit passing for rebellion at the moment"

Following on from the blown out psychedelic infused ‘Rapture’ released earlier this year, Exit Calm return on August 26 with ‘When They Rise’ from new album ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’ out on Club AC30 in September.