There are a lot of great bands out there making great music, and because of this, we think the term "artist" is thrown around a little too much, because when bands like Seoul release tracks like "White Morning", it makes most everything else feel just a little bit more contrived and blunt. Audio art is exactly Seoul's craft, and it's a craft they know very well. The ambient sounds and soft-edged production work that they've employed for this single are in vogue right now, but it's been a long while since we've heard anything quite so balanced and effortless. It's one thing to slap on a couple filters and cobble together a beat to chill to, but it's another thing entirely to take all those moving parts and breathe creative life into them. "White Morning" has this very rare quality to it, and each time you hit play, you'll discover a new facet of the composition that you didn't before, and, just like that, you're enjoying that first listen thrill all over again. Like their other work, "White Morning" doesn't try to impress you with big features; rather, it comes alongside you and eases you into the world that the music creates. It's unusually graceful, and as far as listening experiences go, it's right up there with the best of them. As if it wasn't already an unfair fight, the song's accompanying video is a brilliant visual adaptation of the audio, and the depth it provides to the entire project makes it a welcome addition to the band's already stellar catalog of material. Mackenzie Sheppard takes on both writing and directing duties, while Oliver Millar, and a very talented team, handle the cinematography and everything else. These people don't mess around, and it shows. The blue and grey tints that overlay the imagery reinforce a feeling of cold that pervades the rest of the video, and are only juxtaposed every so often by fleeting bits of sunlight that find their way into the picture as they cut through foggy windows and jagged skylines. Every section of the song is matched up with a corresponding transition in the film, and when the screen goes black you realize you just witnessed the music take visual form in the most direct way possible. It's not often bands can land a solid a one-two punch like this, but "White Morning" is certainly one of those rare occasions, and it's going to earn them plenty of new fans.
Seoul