Singer-songwriter Mariel Buckley is releasing a new video for standout single “Neon Blue” via YouTube (LINK). The video was produced and directed by Michael Linton and presents Buckley in a divey club, under a trance of the surrounding elements: neon lights, the swirl of dancing audience members, and an on-stage performer. Buckley’s new album Everywhere I Used to Be comes out tomorrow/August 12 via Birthday Cake Records (LINK).
“The tune itself started as a dark but nostalgic take on a couple of my old relationships, and how many of them revolved around drinking or unhealthy habits,” Buckley says. “When we made the video, I wanted it to be pretty close to the song’s narrative. Because it’s a more image-based writing style, there’s lots of stylized bar stuff I had envisioned to set the scene.
“The director Mike and his right-hand-man James found an incredible bar in the Transcona area of Winnipeg, The Royal George Hotel. Growing up on the prairies, I definitely had a picture of a specific kind of bar room, and this one fit perfectly. Unpretentious, dark, with cheap beers, VLT’s and a pool table.”
Produced by Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The Barr Brothers, Arcade Fire, The National, Julia Jacklin), Buckley’s second full-length album is a journey to find herself – both personally and artistically – through a bird’s eye view of heartbreak, unwanted change, and world-worn outsiders. The album has received early praise from The Boot, Country Queer, Brooklyn Vegan, and many others.
“When you grow up as the town freak, you get used to hiding who you are to become more palatable for those around you,” Buckley says. “While I’ve been great at speaking my mind in person, my music has often remained a vague, if not softer representation of my stuff, until now.”
Revealing her authentic self is growth enough and Buckley pushes her songwriting to similar challenging efforts on Everywhere I Used to Be. While in the studio, Buckley and Paquin made an intentional move towards contemporary production, and quickly found themselves in a daily rhythm of deconstructing and rebuilding each song to find its full potential. “Whatever Helps You” is Buckley serenading the night in the style of country futurist and in “Neon Blue” she struggles with loss through an echoey guitar lick and ‘80s synth chords that transition into a pulsing rock beat. Other songs paint vivid novellas with their detailed, personalized lyrics – “Strip malls, local bank / Street lined up with neon crosses” (in “Hate This Town”) or “Just sold that old wagon we dented / Rocks kicked up, scratched off the paint” (in “Horse Named Nothing”).
Everywhere I Used to Be is Buckley’s follow-up to her debut Driving in the Dark (2018), which received praise from No Depression, CBC Music, and many others. Now, after a two-year forced hiatus, she is ready to get back on the road and tour across the world behind her growing canon of beautiful, heartfelt story-songs.