London based artist/multi-instrumentalist Oscar Lang has released a new video for his latest single ’21st Century Hobby’.
We’ve talked about ’21st Century Hobby’ before. In fact, I might go so far as to say that I raved about it. “What could easily come off as a lecture is saved by a casual raggedness and indelible catchiness that centres around folky acoustic guitars and psychedelic chord progressions. As the song sinks deeper into reverb and echo, the swirls of fuzzy electric guitars boost a chorus that never forgets to include the melodic goods.”
“‘21st Century Hobby’ is a tune based on the idea of society’s obsession with sharing your life online and comparing yourself to other people,” Lang explains in a press release. “There was one point where I was spending 13 hours a week on social media, which equated to about a month every year. That was a really dark time for me – I always thought that it would never affect me, but it took some time to realise that it was subconsciously affecting my mental health.”
“With the ‘21st Century Hobby’ video,” he continued, “I wanted to bring to life the experience of scrolling endlessly on social media into physical characters dancing around me to show the chaos and over-the-top-ness of everyday online activity.”
Not quite sensory overload as much as laid back cool, Lang takes a load off in a metro car with his trusty Fender Jazzmaster and his feet up, watching a wild host of different types of people live around him. From a sneakerhead to a yoga enthusiast to a gamer, Lang observes it all with a certain detached bemusement, letting the eagerness of the participants bring life to the dull and dreary compartment he finds himself in.
Check out the video for ’21st Century Hobby’ down below. Chew the Scenery is set for an August 13 release.
