Broken Bells Explore Sci-Fi in ‘Holding On for Life’
A human and a spacewoman fall in love and then allow themselves to be manipulated in space by the members of Broken Bells (Danger Mouse and the Shins’ James Mercer) in the duo’s video for “Holding On for Life.” The song is a Bee Gees-like indie-disco number off the group’s forthcoming album After the Disco, which is due out February 4th.
The video draws from two sci-fi-themed, seven-minute short films the group recently filmed, one titled “Angel and the Fool” and another dubbed “Holding On for Life,” both of which star Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Fright Night) and actress Kate Mara (House of Cards, 127 Hours). The full “Holding On for Life” clip makes for a taut yet open-ended storyline about love and the side effects of inhaling vapors in a space helmet at a party. Some of the action takes place on a dancefloor inside a spacecraft shaped like the pink orb on the cover of Broken Bells’ 2010 debut.
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Danger Mouse recently told Rolling Stone that the sort of retro vision of the future was inspired by watching old science-fiction movies. “We’re fascinated with what people in the Fifties and Sixties thought the future was going to be like,” he said. He also said that he and Mercer challenged themselves to make a Broken Bells album in a vintage way, using minimal instruments over which Mercer would sing. “We like the idea of making a record that anybody could make,” he said. “Doing something on a smaller scale, but making it sound really big.”
Shortly after the release of After the Disco, Broken Bells will hit the road for a U.S. tour.