Future alternative metal greats, Defences, have released their new single, "Gold In The Dark", and a new music video to accompany it.
If the latest single, "The Curse", was where Defences struck a blueprint for how they wanted to proceed, "Gold In The Dark" is where they solidified it. Serving as a direct continuation of the story told in its predecessor, "Gold In The Dark" recounts the first steps in self-acceptance and how being at peace with your inner darkness first requires you to embrace it and shine a light into the parts of you that you choose to hide.
Singer Cherry Duesbury comments: "I started reading, researching and practising the concept of shadow work during the lockdown years. I realized there were parts of myself I was actively ignoring and pushing down, and it was contributing to why I was feeling so stunted, and unhappy in myself and who I was in various ways. Coming across this concept and reading about the psychology behind it - which I've always been fascinated by and studied in school for a while - was really eye-opening and inspiring for me. These are some of my favourite lyrics I've ever written! And the ideas in this song sparked so much inspiration for this era of our band and the themes we explored, lyrically, musically and visually."
Stream "Gold In The Dark" here, and watch the video below.
Defences has completed numerous UK tours with multiple sell-out headline shows, not to mention numerous festival appearances including Download, Takedown, Turbulence, and Burn It Down. These shows, combined with the online community cultivated in their #TheHeart fan page, ensure that the band remains connected with their constantly growing fanbase as they move into their upcoming release.
Defences comments on the new video: "This is one of our favourite video shoots to date! We found an amazing derelict school out in Hereford where they run ghost tours. Once we got there and realized just how beautiful the building was, we decided it would be better to shoot each member in a different room rather than all bunch up in a room. This resulted in a huge amount of negative space in all of these shots, with huge rooms stretching behind as we’re performing, ending up with this amazing eerie vibe. It felt a little bit like being in The Shining or The Haunting of Hill House!
"We also wanted to tie the newly established 'Shadow Cherry' to this location, so we showed her room from where she influences the world, resulting in the puppet strings effect seen in the video. This was great, but a lot of hard work to achieve! We had 2 meter-long metal poles with the other end of the ropes attached to them, so just know that any time you see one of us on screen with these ropes around us, all of the other members are just off-camera sweating buckets trying to keep them up!"
Defences are:
Cherry Duesbury - Vocals
William Young - Keys, Vocals
Calum Wilmot - Guitar
Owen Hughes-Holland - Bass
Kyle Parke – Drums
(Photo - Jonathan Vivaas Kise)