Ebonivory // Hanmer Street [Video Review]

Song: Hanmer Street

Band: Ebonivory

Release: Hanmer Street (Single)

Area: Ballarat, Victoria.

Date of release: 18/05/18

Genre: Heavy Progressive Rock

Record Label: Independent

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered: Charlie Powlett

Videographer: Charlie Powlett of Secondhand Sight & Sound.

For Fans Of: Karnivool, Periphery, The Mars Volta.

Next Gig: June 15th at Karova Lounge, Ballarat with Diamond Construct, Hara Kiri & Anticline.

“I broke myself. I want my old life back. I lost my sense of purpose. You tell me. You tell me I'm wrong. I find comfort in the selfishness of the things we ask ourselves. I find comfort in the uncertainty that we might be dead or might be waking up. Time will tell. If this dream is just life as well. Time will tell, time will tell.”

Following on from last year’s single 'A Colour I’m Blind To', 'Hanmer Street' shows a more polished band with a structured song-writing approach and catchy prog-rock hooks. Vocalist Charlie Powlett effortlessly swings from urgent cleans to powerful screams, delivering a highly emotional performance. The added dramatic string sections, layered guitar riffs, electronics and backing vocals pushes the band’s musical approach into far more complex territory and it’s a pleasure to hear the progress they’ve all made.

The music video is very creative and unique, showing the band in animated form with black and white renderings coming to life on a stack of paper. The sheet music and the cluttered writer’s desk adds plenty of visual weight to the video. As explained in several behind the scenes videos on the band’s Facebook page (you can watch them here), the concept of this music video stems from Charlie’s early interests in clay and stop motion animation. The band was shot against a white sheet before being converted into hand-drawn animations. It was a painstaking process which took around 200 hours, 1500 pieces of paper and 6 pencils but considering the high quality of the music video, it was well worth it.

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