Bathe Yourself in the "Partial Darkness" of Dead Quiet

There’s a lot of things that are hard to do right now — getting groceries, finding paper towels, and working from home indefinitely have been my personal struggles, and I figure I have it pretty easy. Recording an interesting music video in these circumstances would seem hopeless — and yet, taking inspiration from our current circumstances rather than accepting defeat, Canadian stoner wizards Dead Quiet have drawn up a clever video to accompany a killer song. The title of this post was more literal than you might have initially thought — check out the soapy music/lyric video for “Partial Darkness” now, off their upcoming album Truth and Ruin.

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Beyond the partial nudity that accompanies “Partial Darkness,” there’s a lot to focus on in the music itself. The interplay of organ and guitar achieves an unusually coherent partnership, reinforcing the heavy grooves with a retro sparkle and no hint of dilution or loss of focus. In fact, as the song builds to a crescendo of wailing guitar and heart-wrenching riffs near the end, the keyboards are what escalates the sound from simply being heavy and vicious to an elegiac lament as well.

As that soundscape takes form, “Partial Darkness” sees no need to retrace its steps. Each riff has its place in the proceedings, and everything that follows it one-ups their predecessor somehow: the soulful vocals reach new heights of ardor, the drumming reaches a fevered pitch, and a despondent piano plays off the last fading lyrics with a chilling drop in intensity.

The video for the song finds a refreshing vantage point, despite the challenges the current climate presents: it raises the generally-understood point of “hey, things are different right now” without getting too gloomy and it hones in on the synchronicity and strangeness that makes Dead Quiet such a stoner rock powerhouse. Future generations will look at this video and have many, many questions on how it came to be, but undeniably they’re going to be swept away.

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Truth and Ruin releases September 11th, 2020 via Artoffact Records.
Regarding “Partial Darkness,” frontman Kevin Keegan comments:

‘Partial Darkness’ was a term I used to describe a period in life that was superficially prosperous and productive but in reality was quite bleak. Behind the scenes, paranoia and distrust can manifest themselves in destructive ways. But, always trust your instincts. People are capable of completely ruining your life. Don’t let them.

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