When Megan Washington released ‘Dark Parts’, the debut single from her upcoming album, our first thought was… ‘Finally!’ As one of Australia’s most enlightened pop writers and performers, the single was everything we thought we wanted and more.
That was… until we saw the video clip.
A wild, fun, beautiful homage to her storied career, Washington tapped film director and partner Nick Waterman to create this desktop FaceTime call to the dark side. Telling the story of the Brisbane artist’s light speed evolution from quirky singer-songwriter to multi-award winning powerhouse, the video is a colourful insight into Washington’s brilliant mind.
Check out Washington’s clip for ‘Dark Parts’:
‘Dark Parts’ is the lead single from upcoming LP Batflowers, her first studio record in six years, out August 28th.
Recorded in various locations like Berlin, Adelaide, and a rental car, Washington tapped top producers for the LP. They include John Congleton (Moses Sumney, St Vincent, Angel Olsen), Dave Hammer (Jess Kent, Mia Rodriguez, Genesis Owusu) and Japanese Wallpaper (Mallrat, Allday).
In terms of cameos, expect appearances from Sam Fischer and Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), but also expect the release to see Washington in full control. Washington has spearheaded almost every aspect of the new record, including songwriting, art direction, photography, frame-by frame hand animation, engineering, A&R, and music video directing.
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“I’ve realised this is where I’m strongest – being given complete trust and full creative freedom in my work,” Washington explained of the process. “My incredible team enabled me to be involved on every level of the creative process and let me get as weird as I want. It’s a fantastic feeling.”
Washington has said the record works like the soundtrack to a musical:
“Aside from the actual songs, there is a lot of sound design and audio-cinema including a thunderstorm, birdsong, dreamscapes and 500 year-old church bells,” she said.
“It was written and recorded all over the world from Joshua Tree in California, Switzerland, Berlin, Adelaide, and finished during lockdown on Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island). I also had to record some vocals inside a rental car.”
