GALWAY BAND City Victim will launch their new single, 'Valery', today along with a video shot in four different cities - McAllen, Texas; South Padre Island, Texas; Chicago; and Mexico City - over the course of the summer.
City Victim are something of a Galway 'indie superground', featuring Adam Sheeran (The Followers of Otis/Eoin Dolan band ), Kieran O'Brien (solo artist andf member of Citog Records ), Ciaran O Maolain on drums (Half Forward Line ), and Wayne Foy on guitar (Field Trip ).
The single marks a move in a somethat heavier dirtection for the band, and shows the influece of Weezer and Incubus. The videdo featurees the acttor Stephanie Marie Baggett.
Speaking to the Galway Advertiser about the song, Kieran says: "We didn't actually write this song about somebody called Valery, but we knew we needed to put a main character behind the song, somebody to expose and shine a light on so that the listener could experience their pain and struggle, and basically empathize with them.
"In essence the song is about being stuck in a shitty situation that you can't escape from, a relationship maybe, or a job, or both; just being exhausted from it all. It's ultimately what City Victim is all about (for now anyways ), the toll of modern life, the expectations, the heartache, the stress, the repetitiveness."
The video came from pervious conctact the band had with actor/cinematographer Joshua Elias. Having discovered his artwork on Instagram, City Victim used one of his images for its debut single 'Tonight'.
"We kept in touch and ended up discussing the themes behind Valery and what it was about," says Kieran. "It turned out he really liked it and offered to make a video for us! We were delighted obviously! We aren't putting mega money into City Victim's PR and marketing and all that so being able to work one-on-one with another artist (remotely ) who also shares the same vision for what we are trying to do artistically is just brilliant!"
