Gareth Liddiard’s solo record is a stark, stripped-down affair, and the videos for its songs have been in a similar vein – the clip for lead single ‘Blondin Makes an Omelette’ was a simple black-and-white job that captured the singer with his acoustic guitar, and the new video for the album's title track ‘Strange Tourist’ is a similarly intimate affair, filmed at his home in rural Victorian town Havilah. The song is one of the strongest on a fantastic album, a recollection of an ill-starred former housemate, and contains some killer lyrics (“They say that hope dies last in a hospital/But has a habit of doing it next to you”).
The video version is slightly different to the one on the album – indeed, it looks like it might well have been recorded live as the clip was being made – and even in the low-key surrounds of his own home, Liddiard’s intensity builds as the song unfolds, so much so that by the end his image fairly blazes through the screen. When he turns those piercing blue eyes straight to the camera, it’s like he’s singing right there in front of you, so much so that it's difficult to turn away. The video was made by Melbourne director/video artist Jasmin Tarasin, who also shot the ‘Blondin Makes an Omelette’ clip and has worked with The Drones, Augie March, Little Red, Mia Dyson and various others.
Gareth Liddiard ‘Strange Tourist’