Photo by Drake Li
Tackling heady topics in musical four-minute treatises is a hallmark of a certain school of independent music, and few bands can blend musical chops with conscious conceptualism as compellingly as Been Stellar. Invoking the name of France’s most notorious divine absolutist for a stirring assault against the walls of entrenched media autocracy, “Louis XIV” celebrates individual liberation from mental incarceration supported by an indie rock framework sturdy enough catapult their concepts far above the fortifications of lumbering institutionalism.
The hooks swing for the rafters and play off nicely against the insistent guitar and rhythm section for a kind of helter-skelter energy that’s seemingly fed through a low-grade static filter for an overall unsettling feeling that itches beneath the skin like the nervous sensation brought on by extreme boredom. The very nature of the music itself inspires alertness, a snap of fingers rousing the listener from a disconnected haze, subliminally incentivizing reaction to the wooly restraints of lethargy.
Pairing a high concept visual narrative with bluntly confrontational poetics launches “Louis XIV” into the stratosphere. Taking on the toxic psychological effects of a media machine saturated with 280-character virulence and conflicting altruisms ricocheting across the cultural consciousness with unstoppable manic momentum, the video opens with glassy-eyed supplicants arrayed behind a rancid bounty like disciples at a trash heap interpretation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Voluntarily poisoning themselves with an overindulgence of manufactured half-truths served up by a megalomaniacal false messiah, mental and physical states rapidly deteriorating into a blackout stupor, a commercialized coma of misinformation overload unable to digest reality from fast-food fantasies.
Not all are susceptible to the charms of clickbait cacophony, but emerging unscathed from the crass crucible can be a race to the bottom against the devil himself. Occupying a seat at the outermost reaches of the table, a lone figure resists the intoxicating effects of complicit consumption, fighting his way bruised and bloodied from a subterranean labyrinth pursued incessantly by the leering visage of a sham savior summoned forth from printed purgatory. Breaking through the finality of a bathtub suicide baptism alone into a higher level of independent consciousness is a herculean task but returning to the scene of the thoughtcrime to liberate one’s fellow afflicted is the mark of a true savior. A torch-bearing messenger diving headlong back through the fractured psychosis of manipulated perception into the depths of hell itself to ignite the fires of resistance among the once-possessed, raging against the infernal machinations of a system unable to function without the coerced participation of a mindless multitude.
Been Stellar are taking “Louis XIV” to the streets of NYC tomorrow, screening the video from the back of a van with accompanying DJ sets at a trio of stops around the city. Mask up and hit the streets for these one-of-a-kind exhibitions if you’re in the area or break up your daily routine by blasting “Louis XIV” from the comfort of your own space.
“Louis XIV” is now on Spotify. You can keep up with the band on Instagram
