Manchester Orchestra Turn Their Album Art Into a Hyperreal Digital Human, New Music Video For "The Way" Builds an Expansive World:
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Today, alongside the physical release of their new album and 3D virtual reality film The Valley of Vision, Manchester Orchestra have shared an extraordinary music video for millions-streamed lead single "The Way." Animated and directed by filmmaker and game developer Campbell Logan (they/them), the visual builds an expansive, ethereal world as both the song and story strive to inspire a healthier relationship with grief. Through a combination of Logan's experimental, hyper-realistic human character creation and their cinematic use of state-of-the-art game engine technology, the emotional journey of "The Way" unfolds across a series of mystical settings, in mind-blowing detail.
From the personification of the person pictured on The Valley of Vision's cover art, to flashes of the accompanying 3D VR film's iconography, the video for "The Way" brings the record to life with a precision and artistry that would have required a team of 10 animators just a few years ago. Manchester Orchestra frontman Andy Hull and Campbell Logan initially bonded over a shared ambition for creating work that heals while making the video for "The Way," a song inspired by the battle that one of the band's close family members lost to cancer. The two of them also connected through a mutual appreciation for ecclesiastical words like "synodical," which appear in the vivid lyrics that Hull belts out with gut-wrenching catharsis, as he illustrates the feelings of losing one's mind and finding it again.
"I've learned a lot from losing people I love and knew that making this video could be a great way to sum up my experiences. I think by bravely confronting and exploring the loss that haunts us we can find a great deal of love that we can transmute into peace and gratitude. I wanted to create a visual narrative about that process," says Campbell Logan, whose credits include projects for Apple, Amazon, Animal Collective, Gwen Stefani, Marc Rebillet, Universal Pictures and more. "My animation practice involves simulating real world film production techniques using 3D software. I build virtual sets and subjects, sequencing events and capturing them with a virtual camera. This time around I used a high fidelity game engine and some experimental human character creation tools to bring this technique much closer to reality. I haven't been able to make a human character look this realistic before."
On the heels of The Valley of Vision, as well as a long history of collaborating with visionaries like Everything Everywhere All At Once's Daniels, "The Way" is another step forward in Manchester Orchestra's continued embrace of emerging technologies and immersive mediums. While Hull calls the album "an exciting idea of what the future could be for us in terms of how we create," the project has been hailed as "seismic" (UPROXX), as songs like "The Way" find Manchester Orchestra "at their very best" (Paste). The Valley of Vision also marks "one of the first instances of a rock band using VR to help tell the stories of their songs" (Alternative Press), and in a five-star review, Uncut says, "few bands are brave enough to try something this ambitious, even fewer have the talent to pull it off."
Listen to The Valley of Vision on all digital platforms and physical formats, and experience it in 180-degrees of 3D virtual reality HERE, with the breathtaking film directed by Isaac Deitz
Following sold-out screening events in Los Angeles, New York City and Nashville, in addition to showings at SXSW, Manchester Orchestra will continue to bring the music of The Valley of Vision across the country and beyond. In May, the band makes a hometown return to Atlanta's Shaky Knees festival, before heading to London for two sold-out performances at Union Chapel. Throughout the summer, they'll play LA's Greek Theatre, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Nashville's Ascend Amphitheater, Chicago's Salt Shed, NYC's SummerStage and two dozen more dates on their recently-announced Amplified Echoes Tour, co-headlined with Jimmy Eat World and featuring special guests Middle Kids. Find the full list of shows below, and tickets at manchesterorchestra.com/#tour
Manchester Orchestra Tour Dates
May 5 - Atlanta, GA - Shaky Knees Festival
May 13 - London, UK - Union Chapel
May 14 - London, UK - Everyman Screen On The Green
May 15 - London, UK - Union Chapel
Jul 11 – Missoula, MT – Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater +
Jul 14 – Spokane, WA – The Podium +
Jul 15 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater +
Jul 16 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater +
Jul 18 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic ^
Jul 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre +
Jul 21 – San Diego, CA – Gallagher Square at Petco Park +
Jul 22 – Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan ^
Jul 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Complex Outdoors +
Jul 25 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater +
Jul 27 – St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park ^
Jul 28 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater ^
Jul 29 – Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit ^
Jul 30 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre ^
Aug 7 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall +
Aug 8 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater ^
Aug 9 – Dallas, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory ^
Aug 11 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion +
Aug 12 – Bellevue, NE - Outlandia
Aug 13 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory ^
Aug 15 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave/Eagles Club +
Aug 16 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed ^
Aug 18 – Indianapolis, IN – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park +
Aug 19 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! Outdoors ^
Aug 20 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill ^
Aug 21 – Toronto, ON – RBC Echo Beach ^
Aug 23 – New York, NY – SummerStage In Central Park ^
Aug 24 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway +
Aug 25 – Buffalo, NY – Outer Harbor Buffalo +
Aug 26 – Philadelphia, PA – Skyline Stage at the Mann ^
+Jimmy Eat World Closing
^Manchester Orchestra Closing
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