Scattered Clouds peer into dystopia in “Morning After” Parts 1 & 2

Scattered Clouds has released two videos for the song “Morning After,” a two-part track and prequel to their single/video “Days on End” released this past summer. The group put out the videos in advance of a few upcoming shows—November 8 at NAC in Ottawa with Ice Cream and December 12 at L’Escogriffe in Montreal with Pop.1280.

The Hull, Quebec-based duo consisting of Philippe Charbonneau and Jamie Kronick released TAKE AWAY YOUR SUMMER in June 2019 on Boiled Records. On the album, “Morning After” appears as a single track—however, the band has pulled apart the track into two pieces and released two separate videos for each.

TAKE AWAY YOUR SUMMER was produced collaboratively with co-producer Michael John Dubue (of HILOTRONS) and Grammy-nominated Ottawa engineer Philip Shaw Bova. The album itself is a “futuristic broken romance set amidst a burning dystopian landscape,” and veers towards the dark and looming sounds that one might expect to hear on a dusty 1980’s VHS copy of Terminator. Brooding and arpeggiated synths collide throughout, along with Philippe’s deep and menacing vocals and Kronick’s pulsing drums.

“Morning After, Pt. 1″ is described by the group as ” an uneasy sleep, a lucid dream and a prelude to contempt and regret.” The video was directed by experimental filmmakers Charles-Andre Coderre (Jerusalem In My Heart) and Guillaume Vallée, and includes an impromptu dance piece by dancer choreographer Kim Sanh Chau, created live with analog video camera & 16mm film projector. The colourful, abstract visuals envelop the viewer, bringing us one step closer to the aforementioned dream state.

“Morning After Pt. 2” is “a hazy morning filled with contempt and regret,” says frontman Charbonneau. The dark Leonard Cohen-esque feel of this part of the song melds seamlessly with the blurry and discomforting imagery. Shot and directed by Andre Baker (Alternative Deletes), “Morning After Pt. 2” is a cinematic respite with an air of anxiety that can’t be shaken.

Scattered Clouds has perfected the intersection of visuals and sound to create feeling and emotion, and there is no better example of this effect that “Morning After Pt. 1 & 2.”

Be sure to grab your tickets to Scattered Clouds tonight at the NAC along with Toronto’s Ice Cream. Tickets available here.