I can’t believe everyone’s so casual. Maybe, I’m too anxious for this sort of situation.
Today, Brooklyn-based psych rock quintet ZEBEDEE share single and cinematic official video “FastEdee” (Director’s cut) out everywhere now. The accompanying video, directed, produced, written and starring the band leader Zebedee Row, follows a lively character who gets into some trouble on limit-pushing adventures around New York City. The group’s sophomore studio album Going Nowhere Fast isdue out August 2 and available for pre-order now.
This Thursday, ZEBEDEE will screen the music video for the first time for free at NYC’s Von along with an acoustic performance and later this month, the band will celebrate the project with an official release party on August 13 at NYC’s Mercury Lounge with Kirk Douglas’ Hundred Watt Heart of The Roots. Get tickets here.
With “Fast Edee” the group introduces listeners to a fictional character of the same name who is on a relentless pursuit of pleasure. Describing the character, lead guitarist and vocalist Row says, “He’s a wild hedonist that tends to get himself into more trouble than one would want, but he just can’t help himself. Go hard or go home is the old motto that he lives by. Sometimes, I feel we all need to push our limits and take a page or two out of Edee’s book. As the lyrics describe, ‘Take everything in moderation…even moderation.'”
The accompanying video, starring Row, was written, directed and produced by Row himself. Row says, “The film is an insight into Edee’s world, showing the underbelly of New York and the wild adventures that take place right below our noses.” Diving deeper into the video itself, Row explains,”In the story, we find Edee trying to corrects his old ways and start a new life with his daughter. Sadly his past catches up with him, and he needs to fulfill one last job before he gets out.” Reflecting on how it felt to make the visual, Row says, “The process was a super challenging yet rewarding experience, and it was a great opportunity to blend my two professional worlds as an actor and musician.”
Late last month, the band shared the garage-leaning, surf rock, slightly humorous evaluation of the incredibly prevalent phone addiction across the world–the light-hearted “I Don’t Know Where Your Phone Is.” Row says, “I guess it’s just a sad sign of the times–with the amount of blue light we all digest it’ll be a miracle if we don’t go blind within the next 50 years.”
Also last month, the band shared the Jeremy Bastard remix of “For God’s Sake” to give the track an elevated, reworked makeover that allows the group to explore new sounds and takes of their music and work with friends. Last month, ZEBEDEE shared the original version of “For God’s Sake,” a track that recalls the freedom and innocence of growing up, in this case for the lead guitarist and vocalist Row, in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It arrived with a playful video set in Maui, Hawaii.
Going Nowhere Fast, the forthcoming sophomore project by ZEBEDEE, is an ode to the band’s love of neo-psych and desert rock sounds. Fuzzy guitar licks, glittering synths and post-punk drums merge to create a compelling, robust sound that is all their own. The songs were written by Row, and his wife and band’s guitarist Kelsey Van Mook who are able to channel their love and mutual understanding into their music. It was produced by GRAMMY award winning engineer Daniel Avila and recorded, mixed and mastered in Flux Recording Studios in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Throughout the album, Row was able to funnel his frustrations about the state of the world into the powerful instrumentation and is able to carry this fervor into the lively live shows. The ten song collection is a commentary on the world today and the human condition–what it means to navigate the world, engage with societal issues and not get lost in a spiral of despair. Crafting the project in the midst of COVID caused the band to reflect and deliberately think about their work and goals. Row says when recording, “I was clearly pretty pissed off about the state of this country and all its flaws. But considering I’m not born here but choose to live in this big beautiful dumpster fire of a country, I thought that gave me an interesting perspective to comment on it. The lyrics are often about the sad, desperate, self-obsessed reality we live in, and the defense mechanisms we use to cope with it.”
ZEBEDEE is made up of an eclectic bunch of musicians hailing from across the globe, including Australia, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The group, led by Zebedee Row (vocals, guitar) and featuring Kelsey Van Mook (guitar), Don McKenzie (drums/percussion) (Elliott Sharpe, Marc Ribot), MichaelBenham (bass) and Fred Seddon (guitar) has headlined stages across New York City since 2013. Now, the band prepares to enter an all-new phase filled with raw energy, masterful instrumentation and newfound creative freedom like never before, putting their synchronicity on full display. On August 13, ZEBEDEE will celebrate their album release at Mercury Lounge with Kirk Douglas’ (The Roots) band, Hundred Watt Heart the Roots.
ZEBEDEE’s latest spirited, adventurous track “Fast Edee” is out now. The group’s forthcoming sophomore album Going Nowhere Fast invites listeners to get lost with the band and is due out August 2, available for pre-order now. Celebrate the new album live with ZEBEDEE in New York City on August 13 at Mercury Lounge with Kirk Douglas’ Hundred Watt Heart of The Roots. Get tickets here and connect with the psych rockers now on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
