With their debut album The Cold In Every Shelter set for release September 10th via Venn Records, Bright-based punk/emo outfit I FEEL FINE have shared the delicious new music video for their single “Elemeohpea”. Shot and edited by the band, the video features a cake made by guitarist and vocalist Joe Kool’s mum—herself a cake artist who created the beautiful coffee and walnut cake featuring the single’s cover art printed on edible sugar paper.
But before the band were able to dive into the cake, drummer Antoine Mansion brought the group to his family home in the Belgian countryside back in 2019 where they spent some time in the basement to work on music. Commenting on the experience which informed the single, guitarist/vocalist Nathan Tompkins said: “The house sits on an ample piece of land with plenty of space, so we could set up together and make some noise, or I could just as easily take a guitar out to another far-off room alone if I wanted. I remember it being unbearably hot that week, so I’d often escape to the basement where it was nice and cool to work on bits. I compiled all of ‘Elemenohpea’ there. It’s definitely the one that I associate most with that trip.”
Lead by the math-rock guitar work and shout-singing harmonies, “Elemenohpea” is a protest of sorts, fighting against the fear of failure and the lack of motivation that it may bring. The metaphor and meaning behind the song stems from a 12-18 month period where Tompkins would walk past a rundown church on his route to and from work. The building’s situation gradually changed, from housing squatters to a rooftop protest and then big wooden boards as the church faced demolition. The phrase ‘Elemenohpea’ was what the occupants had painted in large lettering on the brick courtyard walls, and the meaning itself comes from their story. “The song deals with complacency and how, with trying to settle every time we feel the smallest bit comfortable, we only set ourselves up to fall behind a little further on”, Tompkins explains. “It’s about understanding the traps we can set just by laying idle.”
“When the church was there you couldn’t miss it,” he continues. “For some reason I liked that, so these metaphors from that story then sort of started working their way into my own. It gave me this idea to paint a picture of a fictional congregation in the midst of a shutdown. What scares me most about giving up a goal or losing ambition isn’t whether I’ll find a new interest to pursue, it’s if I’ll be able to muster the effort to go at it again.”
“By the way, that old church is now home to a brand-spanking-new housing complex. I think the takeaway for me from that is the reminder that time is unforgiving. It moves forward regardless of whether or not we decide to evolve with it. Sitting still and shying away from growth will only leave us in the lurch eventually, so this is my way of pushing myself to keep up with the pack.”
Back to the cake, the quartet slice up the dessert piece by piece, following suit with the church’s experience. Watch below: