Beauts ask a big question with the release of their brand new video for “Shut In”: Do you remember fun? Taken from the release of their debut full-length album, the song has proven to be somewhat prescient.
And the answer to their question? Maybe. Maybe we do remember fun, but how do we even define that anymore? Does the sight of those swirling masses of humanity excite you, or is it just as likely to incite fear, panic, and fever? Can we ever look back on this scene with nostalgia or will it forever be tainted by the haunting presence of an invisible enemy?
Filmed in a downtown Halifax karaoke room back in February, the video takes advantage of a laissez-faire approach to communal breathing of a paste era. The video sets out as a reminder that we might perhaps not take these small joys for granted, but it is too late. Such things now belong to the past and can only represent a communal exercise of Russian roulette. Which of us, if any, is the chamber harbouring our doom? It is not for us to know…
“We had to settle into something / ‘Cause tonight we’re shut-ins,” sing the band of their carefree cavorting, as if enjoying a karaoke bar with your friends was the bare minimum for socializing.
“There’s no way we could have realized at the time how prescient the song ‘Shut In’ would be nor that the video would play out like a highlight reel of complete irresponsibility in today’s world,” says Beauts guitarist Darryl Smith. “Hopefully it can serve as a reminder of what it’s like to hang with friends and a hopefulness for a time when we’ll all be able to do that again.”
And, if the world, ever does return to the old ways, is karaoke the sort of thing you’d be willing to risk your life for?