The mandatory social distancing of the last months affects us all in different ways: there are those who are fine with locking themselves up and enjoy slowing down, but there are those who have been getting more anxious about everyday life than usual. Bohemian Betyars, a speed-folk freak-punk band from Hungary, just released their new song reflecting on the endless cycle of doomed restarting with a video directed by Adam Freund, whose previous work has been a Student Academy Award finalist. The video catches a glimpse of the Eastern European realm as we slowly lose touch with the real world and start all over again.
Bohemian Betyars is a fiddler band with a purpose to spread the feeling of bitter revelry the farthest possible. Their music has evolved into a new, exciting mixture of rocking punk, bouncing ska, swooping psychedelia, melodic themes all spiced up with Hungarian, Balkanic and Gipsy elements. Their new song evokes an entirely unique atmosphere telling a quarantine story with strong symbols reflecting on our everyday lives. The protagonist is trapped between four walls with towering pizza boxes, a missing mask and multiple TV sets reflecting on the major world events of 2020. This bizarre cycle is an imprint of the social isolation we are living in for the last few months all over the world, a cycle that connects all of us.
“Although the song was written before the pandemic, it has become even more relevant since. For me, this track is about the uninterrupted cycle of life, where man plans and hopes, but in the end, all is entrusted to the grace of fate. How many times must Sisyphus’ rock roll back from the top of the mountain so he can start his endless battle to push the rock back up. We know again and again.” – said the singer-songwriter, Levente Szűcs, about the track.
The music video was directed by Adam Freund, whose short film, Earthly People, in addition to numerous awards and foreign festival appearances, was a finalist for the 2017 Student Academy Awards. The cinematographer of the video is the two-time Golden Eye (main prize of the Hungarian Society of Cinematographers) award-winning Mátyás Gyuricza, the editor was Lili Makk, editor of Hungarian drama, The Citizen, and the visual designer was Ilka Giliga.
Elölről újra is available on YouTube for a week after its premiere and will be available on all music streaming platforms from 4th March. The new album will be released in the fall. Until then, immerse your quarantine days with Bohemian Betyars that will yank you out of the mundane weekdays and throw you into the deep waters of delirium, just as it was planned to happen.
