escondido-darkness

Escondido – “Darkness” (video) (premiere)

The burgeoning Nashville duo Escondido take a new direction with their sound with the elegant "Darkness".

When Nashville duo Escondido released their debut album, The Ghost of Escondido, in 2013, it was perhaps the closest thing to an overnight success story in the music biz that you could imagine. The album was met with critical acclaim straight out of the gate—acclaim that landed them appearances on CONAN and Nashville, as well as their songs in shows like HBO’s Girls and Sex Tape.


From there, they released their follow-up record, Walking With a Stranger, in 2016, to similar acclaim but a much-expanded sound. The alt. country vibes that Jessica Maros and Tyler James have been evoking from the get-go with tunes like “Cold October” is still there to revere in all of its western-flavored, reverb-accented glory. Yet, there’s something more there too, in the way that these songs have been crafted with that much more dramatic, confident flavor in tow.

In 2017, Escondido is continuing to build into their shoes as a multi-faceted, monstrously talented Americana duo. They expand their sound once more on their latest single, “Darkness”, an elegant, soothing, and altogether mysterious reflection on a lost love. Accented by 1970s-esque noir intertwining itself with Latin-derived percussion, the sounds presented in “Darkness” are a decidedly new direction for the band. Of course, captivating vocals and lush musicality remain the soul of their duet project, but they take us to yet another refreshingly new soundscape with this one while they’re at it.

The accompanying music video for “Darkness” carries itself with a similar feeling of grace and reverie. Directed by Allie Yonick, the video takes place primarily (and fittingly) in a pitch black room, with the spotlight set on just Maros and James as it cuts between shots of the two of them. James plays a pretty melody on his guitar while Maros dances in front of a collection of mirrors, both dressed to the nines. Shots of color break through the darkness more frequently as the video persists, and it ends just as eloquently, ethereally, and evocatively as it begins.

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