With their music deeply rooted in reflection, and drawing on subjects of the natural world, and personal experience, Nuke The Soup have long given fans music that they can not only relate to, but also lose themselves in. Latest single, ‘House Lights’, sees the band draw introspectively, with frontman Mark Davison writing about what happens at the end of life, when the “house lights” are finally turned off.
Nuke The Soup’s latest album, ‘Dancing On The Edge’, created with Grammy-winning producer Kevin Killen and Gerry “Spooky Ghost” Leonard, is filled with themes of loss, hope, uncertainty, and the internal reckoning that often arises when accompany major life changes occur.
‘House Lights’ is one such particularly personal example. With direct emotional writing, combined with powerful chord progressions, we see Davison examine the deep introspective thoughts that we go through after loss. The song started taking shape at the time of Davison’s mother’s death, which was followed six weeks later by that of his father, who had been living in a mild dementia limbo, asking questions about the life he had lived. Davison, already wrestling with what it means to reach the end of life, and wonder if everything had been left in order, incorporated his father’s feelings into the song.
What should have a simple, familiar feeling, “I just wanna know everything’s alright when we turn off the lights”, took on a much deeper meaning for Davison, with the image of the lights going out coming to represent the hope that, when the “big light” is finally switched off, the person can finally be at peace, in the knowledge that all is well.
For the accompanying music video, director Danny Brown came in from the opposite direction of the song, with the central character a ghost who doesn’t yet realise he’s a ghost, and still has a foot in the mortal and immortal realms. It draws to mind the concept in the film, ‘The Sixth Sense’, but without the focus being on the reveal; rather it’s on the condition of moving through existence while not fully comprehending what’s happened. We see the ghost visiting places from his life, unable to communicate with loved ones, or fully take part, and yet not totally grasping why. It’s sobering and moving, and fully conveys the deeper meaning of the song, which, rather than forcing an answer, instead remains in that place of uncertainty, between holding on and letting go.
Watch the music video for ‘House Lights’ below, and find out more about Nuke The Soup and their music online on their official website, and Facebook.
