GEL SET
Her first release as Gel Set since 2017’s captivating Body Copy, Tone Invasion wields the same multifaceted electropop, this time with even more precision. No matter the song’s subject, it’s Laura Callier’s deft command of these sonic interlopers that makes Tone Invasion so infectious. Her crystal-clear vocals add a sense of winking levity to the whole thing; assuring us that there’s still some fun to be had in darkness.
Conceptual multimedia artist Callier, aka Gel Set, releases her fourth single 'Feed Me' off forthcoming album, Tone Invasion, out April 30 via 2MR / Remote Control Records. The video for 'Feed Me,' directed by Sean KcGuirk, is a retro 1-800 ad playing on addiction to consumerism and the balance of satisfaction. One thing is clear, we are sold on Gel Set. This track follows the first hypnotic single 'It Has Come To Our Attention', second single 'Where The Ocean Meets The Land', and third single 'Next Exit', a cinematic track about escaping reality by, well, escaping. Watch 'Feed Me' here.
Director Sean McGuirk on 'Feed Me': "Filmed in an afternoon during the haze of an historic pandemic, the video for "Feed Me" is somewhere between a lucid fever dream and the technicolor withdrawal pangs of a housebound woman with a craving for the exciting world depicted on her late-night TV binges. Drawn in by the promise of solve-all infomercials, she dials up a miracle: someone or something to save her from her swelling despair. For a limited time only."
Directed, filmed and edited by Los Angeles-based video artist Sean McGuirk, 'Feed Me' utilizes ancient VFX hardware from the 1980s to create a colorful RGB fantasy that artist and performer Laura Callier plays in with her signature humor and vamping Gel Set persona. Using a mixture of digital and VHS photography, alongside primitive digital effects and 3D animations, the video uses the tension of these elements to bring the viewer into its world where any problem can be solved by using a touch-tone phone.
Gel Set on 'Feed Me': "Riding the ups and downs of life and my moods, I find myself amidst this abstract striving for a happine's that I can’t even completely define. Is happiness feeling physically, emotionally, and psychologically good at every moment? Wealth and achievement of all professional and creative goals? Romantic satisfaction and no distress in any relationship? No problems in any area of my life? When laid out in concrete terms, perfect “happiness” sounds like what it is—impossible, antithetical to the more relatable mantra that “life is suffering,” with beautiful moments along the way. Capitalism plays into this yearning, this battle for the ever elusive happiness and contentment—if I can just buy the right facial serum, I can look eternally youthful and secure my perfect soulmate and live happily ever after—if I can just buy one more synthesizer, I’ll make the song that everyone loves and they’ll love me—etc etc etc. When do I make the final purchase that finally fills the need? Is that where a coffin salesman comes into play?"
Something about the crime of a home invasion feels especially sinister. The home, a person’s sacred temple from the cruel world, penetrated by an unwelcome force. A masked man holding braided rope and knife, clad in a striped shirt like a cartoon burglar. A door-to-door salesman with a pleasant grin but dark desires. At best, you end up tied to a chair with your flatscreen in the back of a van, and at worst…well, plenty of true crime mythos cover worst case scenarios. So what of a tone invasion? A song can shatter our peace and ruin a trip to the drugstore with memories of a relationship that soured. Another can soothe our pain by reminding us that we’re not alone. Sounds too, it seems, have the power of an invader, with consequences both catastrophic and cathartic. This is what Laura Callier (AKA Gel Set) had in mind while recording her latest album. On Tone Invasion she harnesses that power, shining a flashlight inward and exposing the many traps the mind lays for us.
In keeping with the record’s theme, Callier invited an invader of her own into her recording process, asking Noah Anthony (AKA Profligate) to mix the album. It was the first time she’d brought in an outside collaborator for her solo work, and Callier was understandably hesitant. “I feared that if a male touched my songs, he'd end up getting all the credit, as sometimes happens in this world,” she explains. “Noah had my explicit instructions to only mix the album and not touch anything else, but to my chagrin I absolutely loved the other suggestions he had.” In the end, an outside perspective proved refreshing, and Anthony ended up co-producing and contributing original instrumentation to several songs.
