#setting forth

We watch as Glen Hansard drowns his sorrows in the unmistakably beautiful new video for ‘Roll On Slow,’ directed by Piotr Kabat who blends hand-drawn animation with classic film as he wonderfully captures Hansard’s brutal longing and despair against a wall of bluesy riffs and driven, triumphant 60s soul.

Hansard says about the track via press release:

‘‘Roll On Slow’ was written while I was living in a former women’s refuge called the Florence Mission on Bleeker Street in NYC. My girlfriend was away in Europe and I was drinking too much. I was walking home from the Jonathan Swift bar at dawn, which was happening a few too many mornings in a row. The song is simply about missing your girl and being unable to take care of yourself.’

Director Kabat, meanwhile, says about the video:

‘The video attempts to bridge the gap between animation and film. While it’s entirely hand-drawn, the organic and grainy look is inspired by classical movies shot on film.” Kabat added, “In terms of story we wanted to convey the vibe of a solo night out in New York. Getting kicked out of bars and hanging out in front of liquor stores ‘til sunrise just to escape from your own demons.’

‘Roll On Slow’ is from Glen Hansard’s latest album Setting Forth, out now.

From his third solo album Between Two Shores, Glen Hansard’s ‘Setting Forth’ tries to make a clean break.

Recorded with The Brian’s Blade Fellowship in just one take, ‘Setting Forth’ sees Hansard struggling to move forward - ’Let's not let fortune find us/With shackles on our hands/I'd rather leave it all behind us/I wonder if we can?‘ - in a quiet burst of smoothly-driven bass, nostalgic keys and a weathered guitar groove as a relationship meets a natural end.

Hansard says about the track (via Billboard):

‘It's a straight-up, genuine breakup song, but not about the passionate breakup, the 'I can't do this anymore! I'm leaving you!' It's like the divorce proceedings, if you like -- Where are you going to live? Where am I going to live? You've had the big, passionate breakup, so now it's about dividing things up, the balancing act.’

Glen Hansard’s Between Two Shores is out January 19 via Anti-, following on from the 2015 Grammy-nominated album, Didn’t He Ramble.

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