The clip was created by Marvel Comics illustrator Enis Cicis and award-winning Toni Huml
Last week, Barenaked Ladies announced that their 16th studio album Detour de Force will be released on July 16th, and shared the topical new single “New Disaster” which focuses on the craze and impact of the 24/7 news cycle. Now, they share an animated video for the new single to go alongside the track’s timely subject matter.
The video uses a graphic novel style presentation with comic book visual language to tell the story of the quintessential family unit who are watching the news. The mother and father are hypnotized by the TV screen and the son – by his mobile phone screen. The screens are showing chaos and destruction in the 24-hour news style, with an antagonistic anchorman and aggressive advertising, complete with nods to films like Dr.Strangelove and They Live. However, the little girl sees past the screen and her spell is broken by the music of Barenaked Ladies. She becomes a part of the music and brings that joy back to the living room and liberates the hypnosis of the rest of her family.
“It is about the distraction of modern politics coupled with the pressures of the 24-hour news cycle, which is so sensational, un-vetted and un-researched,” says frontman Ed Robertson. “It seemed like the Nostradamus predictions of new disaster were getting worse and worse, even after we recorded the song.”
The video was created, illustrated and animated by Sarajevo (B&H) based artists Enis Cisic and Toni Huml. Cisic has had his work shown in festivals and galleries internationally, and seen on the pages of Marvel comics. He was the artist behind the award-winning comic book “The Secret of Nikola Tesla.” Huml has worked on multiple award-winning music videos, animated short forms, and feature film VFX.
Detour de Force is BNL at its most ambitious, accomplished, intricate, intentional — and, in some ways, circumstantial. Its gestation was long and exacerbated (as so many things have been) by the global pandemic. The good news is that it’s BNL’s most broad-reaching and diverse work to date — fusing the distinct writing voices of Robertson, Hearn and Creeggan into a cohesive work from the stand-out tracks “Flip,” “New Disaster,” and “Good Life,” to the uptempo fun of “Flat Earth,” the playful and country-flavored “Roll Out” to the gentle melodics of “Live Well,” “The National Park,” “God Forbid” and “Man Made Lake” to the sonic roller coaster of the album-closing “Internal Dynamo.”
Barenaked Ladies rescheduled their extensive Last Summer On Earth Tour to 2022. All previously purchased tickets and VIP packages will remain valid for 2022. Check the routing and contact the original point of purchase for any questions.
