New Jersey experimental psych-pop outfit Blood Cultures craft music that’s centered on true aural immersion and stimulated by the stark disparities within today’s culturally crestfallen era.The individuals of Blood Cultures remain shrouded in mystery in order to remain encumbered by societal demands and the spiritual vacancy behind social media acceptance.
Today, the band shares the Saleem Barbados-directed music video for “Broadcasting,” a track taken from their sophomore LP Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs released earlier this fall. Like the album itself, “Broadcasting” is wrapped up in genre-bending electronics, alluring vocals, and an enigmatic narrative of cultural identity. The video illustrates the question of identity faced by those who feel pulled between two cultures.
Choreographer/performer Anjali Mehta gives body to this struggle for identity through Bharatanatyam, a traditional Indian dance, juxtaposed against the backdrop of industrial Brooklyn. Her bright clothes and sharp movements stand in stark contrast to the metal and graffiti ridden walls behind her. In the second verse, Mehta transforms, embodying more western movement, garb, and activity. She finds herself unsatisfied with her change and begins to question her surroundings. We last see her staring at television set, desperate for answers. The video is about an individual who is clashing with her surroundings, she is seen in the eyes of the camera as someone that does not belong in the environment. Through attempting to acclimate, she loses her identity, and is left adrift, still seeking the answers of where she belongs.
Blood Cultures shares this of their music video: ”I was raised in New Jersey, after my parents immigrated from Pakistan. Growing up with one culture inside your home, and another one at school, in your community, and in media is a hard thing to navigate in terms of understanding who you are and where you belong, if anywhere. The struggle for identity is almost a guarantee for any first-generation-american, but when we present those struggles with pride, it becomes a lot easier to see that we’re not alone in facing them; that these feelings are universal. The video’s purpose is not to bring answers, but bring forth the question of identity itself—a common theme throughout the record.”
Blood Cultures emerged onto the scene with a series of striking singles culminating in their sonically multifaceted debut LP Happy Birthday in 2017. The albummesmerized with majestic pop fireballs laced with dreamy, summery synth reverberations. The concept behind Blood Cultures is to create music as a vast emotional landscape that sticks in people’s minds. It’s a place where one’s imagination can be open and free. At the same time, the music operates as this sacred, imaginative destination to explore allowing listeners to conjure up feelings on identifying their own true being in this reality.
The “Broadcasting” music video arrives in support of the group’s headlining fall tour. Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs is available now.