‘Soot Follows Cinder’ / ‘Antonius Block’s Confession’ by Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy | New EP, ‘Logos’
Exclusive video premiere of ‘Soot Follows Cinder’ / ‘Antonius Block’s Confession’ by Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy, taken from the upcoming EP, ‘Logos,’ out today.
This new music video features two tracks: ‘Soot Follows Cinder’ and ‘Antonius Block’s Confession,’ the first singles from the 2023 EP ‘Logos’. The songs serve as the two acts of the video, with the sonic and visual aesthetic linking their disparate themes.
‘Soot Follows Cinder’ is a death’s-eye-view of the organic carbon cycle. The song travels from lightning to fire. Fire to ash. Ash to air. It is a fast-paced and frenetic push and pull through epochs to illuminate the parallels between social and natural cycles.
The video features scenes that alternate between the morbid and the joyous. Images of death incarnate and deceased band members are punctuated by well-lit group shots of the performing band who themselves are dissociated from “life”; performing in a featureless expanse of darkness. The black and white production of the video mimics this dichotomy.
‘Antonius Block’s Confession’ is a song written about a scene in Ingmar Berman’s The Seventh Seal. It begins with hushed undulating guitar and drums that provide background to sparse contemplative lyrics in verse 1. The chorus gives way to triumphant harmonies that dive into dark driving rhythms. The movie scene it depicts is an examination of the futility of faith in the face of finality. It shows a knight dragging himself into a confessional to discuss faith and fate with the unseen priest. His crisis is immediate, and he is searching for answers. But, alas, there is no priest, no interlocutor between mortal and divine, no divine, no answers. Only death.
Act II of this video pays homage to this great scene with some referential shots and the striking black and white images. The video features the knight’s encounter with death, and references to the subsequent confessional scene. Footage of trees and overgrown headstones contrast with dark, artfully framed interior shots of a surreal confessional. The individual and group shots of the band performing at break-neck speed compliment the dramatic and contemplative tone of the shots.
It was directed by Chad Crenshaw, and edited by Davis DeRock. Storyboards by Frank Coronado. Post-production was provided by Jeff Fuller. It features Samuel P. Espinoza as Antonius block. Both songs were written by Jarrod Starling (ASCAP), and performed by Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy.
‘Logos’ was co-produced by the band and Johnny Kenapaske who also recorded it and mixed it at Dead Horse Sound Co. in Kansas City, MO. It also features players Kellie Everett (The Hooten Hallers) on woodwinds for ‘Bad Miracles’; violinist Liz Sloan from Urban Pioneers/Broken Band/Bob Wayne on ‘Cover the Altar’; and Dane Talley rounding out the EP on piano and organ.
The band’s DIY approach is evident in their self-recorded albums, self-published music, self-booked tours, and collaborations with local and regional visual artists. A live CNS performance is a loud, fast, sweeping journey to a brand-new destination. Their music, as brilliantly evidenced on ‘Logos’ is a whip-smart ride through the history and future of American music (and beyond).
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