It’s hard to realize within all the turmoil and political upheaval that has moved the world over the past four months that many people have been unable to share a conversation in a physical capacity without wearing a mask. In order to protect others who maybe vulnerable to the pandemics relentless fervor, people have been reliant upon wearing homemade masks, some customized with expressive designs that communicate to others. We’ve been meant till further notice to actually “shut our mouths” till the pandemic subsides or a vaccine is put in place to help combat the spread.
Through these parameters we find Brooklyn’s Jelly Kelly (aka Keith Kelly, formerly of Monogold) taking a hard look at what used to be so blatantly naked with their new video for their single, “Mouth Sound”. The new single is from the band’s self-released EP O’ Earth You Mean The World To Me, a compilation of B-Sides and random material that Kelly and Co. have been working on before / during quarantine. In light of the wave of protests happening across the country to combat systematic racism and corrupt police brutality, the band moved forward with sharing this project early in order to raise funds to donate 100% towards Black Lives Matter. Art used as a creative weapon to strike at the heart of oppressive state tactics within our communities.
The video created by Kelly himself features an array of actual mouths bare to the viewer from all different races to showcase the similarities routed within us, as those who would try to separate us on racial lines have no basis in their hate, as we’re all the same. Our mouths express our ideas, moves the needle on issues, and sparks the deeps connections we all feel in days that have become too dark when others would see it silenced. The track is a short synth laden journey that is lead by Kelly’s delicate vocals in simplicity, “The shape of your mouth, the shape of my mouth / Your tongue up and down, my tongue up and down”. The track begins and ends with the sound of conversation that we miss in our corners of isolation, the distinct voices that remind us of our humanity.
O Earth You Mean The World To Me is out now on all platforms.
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O’ Earth You Mean The World To Me Tracklist
- Juanita (Car Tire Flower Plot)
- Rest Energy
- Mouth Sound
- Weird Wolf
- Feral Meryl
- City Wave