video premiere: "Destination Wedding" - Clearance
On the latest single from their upcoming album At Your Leisure, Clearance somehow manages to turn the stress, tradition and headache of a "Destination Wedding" into sanguine 60s inspired rock. The single is set against the visuals from the band's recent tour through Brazil, and the montage of carefree behind the scenes clips serve as a perfectly matching musical collage. The single begins with just a touch of tropical-inspired strings, the mood quickly shifting as vocalist Mike Bellis questions "was my invitation lost/to your destination wedding?" Bellis continues to list off every carefully coordinated element of the ceremony as band mates Kevin Fairbaim, Greg Obis, and Arthur Velez provide an easy-go-lucky instrumental fuzziness that radiates with undeniable warm. Midway through the track, the tone shifts, the guitar and drums tunneling further into this psychedelic dream.
Preorder the album via Topshelf Records (out 7/27) here and enjoy a brief text interview we shared with Mike below.
Text Chat:
Hey Mike! It’s Lauren from TGE. I’m just gonna ask you like three-four really random questions. Starting with, which emoji(s) do you most personally identify with?
Omg those are like really good answers. Ok, if clearance was asked to play the stage at Chuck E. Cheese, would you do it? And what songs would be on the set list?
Ha! That place always creeped me out as a kid, especially the stage area, so probably not. But if we did, we’d probably do something more ambient or open-ended to chill out the kids and give their folks a break. “Music for Ball Pits.”
Chuck E was creepy as heck, for sure. And the pizza was yuck! OK! Since your new single is called “Destination Wedding,” if you could travel anywhere in the world, real or fake, where would it be? I’d probs go to Pokemon Land and become a gym leader.
Good answer! OK final question! What was your favorite part of recording the new album? Feel free to use an emoji in your response.
We recorded some of the record in our practice space for the first time, and Dave [Vettraino, our friend and engineer] and I would grab late night tacos at this spot nearby called El Jaliscense. Half of my vocals were powered by their al pastor and bottles of Topo Chico.