Cigar Cigarette - "Hard Five"

We’re excited to premiere the video for “Hard Five” from Cigar Cigarette, the new project of New York City-based musician and producer, Chris McLaughlin. McLaughlin has spent a lot of time behind the board over the years, engineering and producing some big acts like Bon Iver and The Strokes, and now he’s prepping for the release of his debut solo EP, Cigar Cigar Cigar Cigarette, later this year. 

The video for “Hard Five” weaves between shots of the streets of New York City and a bright, bleeding technicolor palette. It moves at a brisk pace, reflecting the hustle of New York City and the interposed bursts of vibrant colors capture the kind of chaos that commands our attention in our everyday lives. Mclaughlin described how the video replicates these types of distractions: “We may think we are doing one thing as we walk down the street, but our attention is constantly being buffeted by images of love, life, death, violence and advertisements, all layered on top of one another.“ 

The music has a similarly neurotic feel, navigated by a pulsating rhythm that’s informed by the provocative sounds of industrial music. It’s a gritty sound collage of sorts, with percussion, synthesizers, and guitars that are sliced, diced, and then pieced back together in dramatic fashion. In describing the connection between the song and the video, McLaughlin explained that he wanted “to treat moving images the same way we treat music creation” by chopping up, re-recording and repeating images of New York City in musical ways. The end product thus “creates visual refrains as we move throughout the city.” Elyse Winn, who plays in Cigar Cigarette, shot, directed, and edited the video.

Stream the video below. The song is also available on all streaming platforms, including Spotify. Keep up with Cigar Cigarette on Facebook and Instagram!

Cover photo courtesy of Siren PR.