STEVEN DAYVID MCKELLAR Shares Emotionally Cryptic Video For Title Track “One And Zero” EP Out Now!
“… startling…. falling somewhere between Four Tet and a slightly straighter iteration of Thom Yorke’s work with Atoms For Peace.” – Under The Radar
“From its structure to the rich instrumentation, [McKellar’s music] recalls Amnesiac/Kid A era Radiohead.” – MXDWN
STEVEN DAYVID MCKELLAR
Debuts emotionally cryptic video for title track “One and Zero”
New EP, One and Zero
Out Now via Sonic Ritual
Former Civil Twilight Frontman Explores Isolation and Self-Realization in a Pandemic World
JULY 26, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) – “I wanted to make a video that rings true to the song and represents what I have felt like recently,” explains singer/songwriter STEVEN DAYVID MCKELLAR regarding the visually arresting video for his latest single “One and Zero.” Taken from the eponymously named EP which was released via Sonic Ritual, its imagery carries quite a profound symbolic meaning. “The figures of clay and mud, these primal earth beings, are attempting to live out a cultural conditioning, a domestic life, wrestling with it, while still chemically bound to nature,” he continues.
Directed by Joe Cardamone, the video imbues existential questions of re-learning how to exist in a pandemic world while coping with the darkness brought about by isolation. “In the song, I ask myself (and anyone who’s listening), ‘how do you sleep, knowing you’re still being formed. We are ever-changing, evolving….’ It’s something I keep coming back to, this concept. It intrigues me,” Steven expresses. The One and Zero EP is a product of the last two years, each of the three songs on the EP lingers with the question of existence during the pandemic, stemming from his own personal observations of the current state of isolation the world is experiencing and the socio/political environment that has grown in this country. “It’s both the times we’re in and then the questions I’m asking myself. I think the intimacy comes from the desire to be more vulnerable and honest with myself and with others,” he adds.
Photo credit: Lauren Stocker
The latest EP follows McKellar’s previous album ETHIO, which was released in 2020 and was overshadowed during the COVID lockdown. Closing track, “The Promise?” featured on the EP, is taken from his previous album as a recorded live track. “That song, and ETHIO as a whole, never really got heard or liked. And I’m really proud of that record and wanted to show another angle,” he conveys.
The former lead singer and primary songwriter for popular rock band Civil Twilight, McKellar dives deep into the subconscious and unearths melodies that strike the gut, eliciting deep seated emotions of heartbreak in his minimalistic electronic style. The title track, “One and Zero” tackles the stasis and stillness of being that the quarantine brought. “It’s a fascinating time in human history,” explains Steven. “We who are alive right now are just a tiny link in the chain for the next stage of human life. And the song is like ‘how do you sleep, knowing you’re so insignificant and yet so crucial?’ We’re so bound by our logic and routine and progress that we don’t always realize that we’re still just blobs of goo walking around, barely able to get by, having no clue how to really utilize this power.”
One And Zero EP
Tracklist
1.“One and Zero“
2. “Fading In, Fading Out”
3. “The Promise (live)”
With Civil Twilight, McKellar had seen life on the big stage, having led the South African rock band through a very successful run, sharing stages with Jimmy Eat World, Silversun Pickups, Smashing Pumpkins and Florence + the Machine amongst others. Civil Twilight’s songs were placed on TV shows such as One Tree Hill, House, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Now solo and focusing on releasing music on his own terms, he’s thankful to continue being creative. “I’m just happy having some new music of mine out in the world,” he smiles. “I feel very blessed to be able to do that. I don’t really hope for things anymore. It’s not good for me.”
“One and Zero” is now available via Sonic Ritual and can be purchased/streamed here. One and Zero EP is out now via Sonic Ritual.
