Robert Williams’ “Phases of the Moon” equates the way people come and go in our lives with the waxing and waning of Earth’s nearest celestial body.
On the dark pop track, accented with a ringing synthesizer lead, the mellow-throated Williams draws on his own recent romantic upheaval with verses employing multiple perspectives to illustrate the transitory nature of relationships.”
“It’s about the passing of time,” explains the singer, revealing that Robby’s forthcoming sophomore LP, Impression, arrives more personal than last year’s self-titled debut. “The first verse is about coming to know somebody and the second verse is from the perspective of someone who’s known that person for a long time. Neither of them are in the right. They’re just two versions of the same thing:
“People who are a phase in each other’s lives.”
The group, formed in late 2017 by Williams, Ringo Deathstarr drummer Daniel Coborn, and bassist Lolita Lynn – and later adding Delicate Boys frontman Caleb Mckelvey on guitar – linked up with filmmaker Jarrod Yerkes and video producer Will Campbell to shoot visuals for “Phases of the Moon.” The clip exploits the technological limitations of an early-Eighties camera, the Hitachi Z31, which contains long-obsolete imagining tubes, as well as some crafty lighting, to give the performance a unique look.
“I had an idea to use the after-image effect, where you move and the pervious image is still burnt into the tube a little bit,” recalls Williams of the footage shot at Renegade Studios in Taylor. “Campbell said he had a camera that could do that in an analog way. So all of those effects are just from the camera. We didn’t add any in post-production.”
Robby celebrates the video release with a stacked bill tonight at Cheer Up Charlies, also featuring TC Superstar, Black Books, Tee Vee, and Waldo Witt. Williams says “Phases of the Moon” arrives soon as part of a two-track Flexi-disc, before Impression gets a full release in December.
Robby’s “Phases of the Moon” premieres right here:
This article appears in September 6 • 2019.