Premiere: TV Telepath's Post-Rock Goodness, 'The Millionaire's Grin'

24 October 2016 | 12:00 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

If you don't know who TV Telepath are then hey, fair enough - they are a brand new band, after all. But it's time to get familiar with them.

If you don't know who TV Telepath are then hey, fair enough - they are a brand new band, after all. But it's time to get familiar with them.

The Melbourne trio are a three-piece post-rock band and the group is wasting no time in getting their music out to the masses with this first taste of new single, 'The Millionaire's Grin', which we're happy to premiere today.

The dreamy guitars and the tight surging drums lay the framework for the Australian-centered vocals to fly over the song as it lulls you into this great sense of flow and rhythm across its five-minute length. But it's timbre and melodies are juxtaposed so well by the downright haunting visuals found in the music video that accompanies it, what with the various kaleidoscopic visuals and all of the old footage (mostly black and white) of war, technology, everyday life, movies, documentaries and so on, with a few intercuts of the band playing the song.

Which brings me to an interesting point - just how bloody creepy is old shit? Whether it be old mid-20th-century songs played on vinyl in horror movies or just having a really cool post-rock track accompanied by weird and seemingly random footage of human history gone by is kinda off-putting. Sure, TV Telepath are definitely not the first band to take this approach in their films clips (Architects did it really well for 'These Colours Don't Run') but man, these guys did it quite well here. Plus, the song itself is rad which always helps out.

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Guitarist/songwriter Thomas Robinson is upfront about the themes found on the EP, saying “The way we feel day to day is largely based on perception...and tools like the television are used to influence the masses into perceiving the world in a certain way. Influencing every aspect of our lives while selling products and fear the entire time.” Hence the vintage footage, I suppose.

He continues, "the record, in a sense, is about maintaining a connection with your true self in a seemingly chaotic modern world.”

The record was produced by Dan Murtagh (Jericco, Dead Letter Circus, Twelve Foot Ninja) at the iconic Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne in the summer of 2015.

TV Telepath's debut EP, ‘I Won True Love on a Gameshow’ (there's that pesky perception of reality again) is set for release on Friday, November 18th, and a second single/film clip will follow just before the EP's release. Pre-orders for the release will be going live from this Friday 28th October on iTunes so you know what to do!

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