Vocally, there’s nobody that sounds like Chicago post-punk trio Dehd right now. The carefree harmonies between singer-guitarist Jason Balla and bassist-singer Emily Kempf is downright fun and it’s the hallmark of the surging band. As they gear up to release Blue Skies, their fourth album (and first on the Fat Possum label), they’ve shared the video for the latest single, “Stars,” and once again, it totally rules.
The song opens right into the catchy hook, with Balla singing, “Stars above, I get too much, my heart ain’t strong enough,” before Kempf joins him in a jump up and down duet over Eric McGrady’s pounding drums. Kempf says the song is about “…reaching past the boundaries of understanding our personal comfort,” and the video that she co-directed with longtime collaborator Kevin Veselko visually speaks to that theme.
McGrady is in a stoically, pensive zone, searching for inner peace as the world wooshes around him. Kempf and Balla go through the same emotions, but process it in different ways. It speaks to how nobody is the same and that finding that “comfort” that Kempf describes, looks different for everyone. It’s almost as if it describes the beauty of Dehd: three different people giving each other space to find their own version of harmony, and when they come back together, it sounds awesome.
Watch the video for “Stars” above.
Blue Skies is out 5/27 via Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.