motorways.mp4

The debut album from Bond Street Bridge, ‘The Mapmaker’s Art,’ was recorded with one microphone and an old laptop in a falling-down villa next to Auckland’s northwestern motorway.  The circumstances of the recording had a strong influence on the content of the record; and this is particularly audible on the track ‘motorways,’ the new single and video from Bond Street Bridge.  Most of the songs on ‘The Mapmaker’s Art’ are about ways of traveling, and this song is inspired by the motorway at night, wet from the rain.

‘Motorways’ is a lush track. The glitchy beats, driving strings, and rolling bass surround a sinister tale of misadventure on the open road, delivered in a hushed an impressionistic vocal.  There are bones, there’s poison and knives, and the wet road follows powerlines through the mountains to an unspecified destination.

In the video, shot in grainy black and white by Sam Duckor-Jones and Tim Sissons, a car travels aimlessly through dark streets, with streetlights and road markings melting into abstract patterns reminiscent of Len Lye’s experimental film work.  The sequence is dream-like, with moments of lucididy cutting in and out through a haze of lens flare.

Sam Duckor-Jones is a visual artist based in Wellington.  His work includes painting, sculpture, puppetry and animation, as well as video work.  He exhibits at Bowen Galleries. Tim Sissons has collaborated with Sam on a number of video and photography projects; this is their first music video.