Image: Clint Peloso
Melbourne three-piece Telenova have followed up their debut with another alluring track, this time drawing listeners in with their new single, Tranquilize. Inspired by the mythological sirens, the track likens falling in love to the intoxicating and transfixing attraction of a siren call. Laced with mesmerising vocals and trip-hop influenced production, the release was assembled by Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie) at an APRA SongHubs writing camp in early 2020
Speaking of the track, front woman Angeline Armstrong shares: "I was actually flicking through a thesaurus and the word ‘Tranquilize’ jumped out at me, it just rang so nicely on the tongue and was so inherently visceral. I was humming gibberish over the hypnotic Rhodes chords that Josh had laid down, and we heard what sounded like ‘Poseidon’s on the water’ - it was the first time in a writing session with Ed and Josh, and the first time I’d been in a writing session where a poetic, literary lyric idea like that wasn’t shunned and coined as ‘unrelatable’. It resonated. We followed the thread, playing into Siren mythology as a metaphor for falling in love - the power of attraction to transfix and tranquilize you."
The release is accompanied by a dreamy, cinematic visual, directed by Armstrong herself. Set in a nautical underground club, the visual follows a Siren-on-the-run who is disguised as a jazz singer, capturing the mystical and lyrical metaphor of Siren mythology on the track. "I grew up in Williamstown and on the way to school, would drive past this towering building that was a standing replica of the Titanic ship." Armstrong says. "We ended up shooting the clip inside the Titanic - turns out they do theatre restaurant shows there and the floors move to replicate the motion of the water and a sinking ship and everything. The cast & crew on the clip were a combination of new and long-time collaborator creatives that I’ve worked with in film. Daniel Bolt, won ‘Gold’ at the Australian Cinematographers Society Awards for his work as Director of Photography. Everyone brought a slice of their own creativity to the clip - I’m so proud of what everyone brought to the picture."
Tranquilize is out now! Watch the visual below.