New Single and Music Video ‘Samurai Sword’ by Chad VanGaalen
Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian indie artist from Calgary Alberta. After several successful albums, VanGaalen is gearing up for the release of his new album ‘Worlds Most Stressed Out Gardiner’ due out on March 19, 2021. In anticipation of his upcoming album ValGaalen has released a new single, ‘Samurai Sword’. The song is out now everywhere you get your music.
When you think of Calgary, Alberta it’s not often you picture an artist like VanGaalen. When talking about music from Calgary more often than not you’re picturing cowboy hats, pick-up trucks, and the rest of that home-grown Canadian-country vibe. It’s not very often you picture mythical monsters rising from the sea, or dream-scapes that remind you of a children’s bedtime story on another planet, but that’s what you get when you listen
to Chad VanGaalen and see the artist’s music video work.
VanGaalen has released several animated music videos he directed and animated himself that bring these images to life, in a very visual way. One might be forgiven for using the term “trippy” to describe the artist’s animation style.
It’s very cool to watch the artist’s body of work while you listen to his music. What strikes me over and over again is how playful VanGaalen’s music and lyrics are next to such surrealist – sometimes mildly disturbing – visuals.
It’s not surprising that an artistic force like VanGaalen has been both nominated for a JUNO and short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize.
The artist has a new single out called ‘Samurai Sword’ that comes along with another uniquely weird and wonderful animated video by VanGaalen himself. The video is dedicated to the artist’s Dad and the times he’s grateful for that they spent together in nature.
The song is reminiscent of a great Flaming Lips/Tenacious D collaboration that never existed – a statement of genuine praise I don’t make lightly. The song tells the story of a lost, but more importantly borrowed, indestructible samurai sword. Need I say more? If you’re not sold yet, I’ll say that this is one of those songs I didn’t know what to make of straight away, but I knew I liked it. It got put on repeat for a while.
The video for the song also does not disappoint. Again animated and directed by VanGaalen himself the video for ‘Samurai Sword’ takes the viewer on a visual journey that walks a line between crude anime and the Sunday morning cartoons of another reality. The video also includes paintings by the artist’s Father incorporated as a dedication. In short, it’s fucking epic.
‘Samurai Sword’ is off VanGaalen’s upcoming album ‘World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener’ due out on March 19, 2021, on Flemish Eye Records in Canada and Sub Pop Records worldwide.
