The mesmerising video for ‘Anchor & Hope’ is the latest triumph for Victor & The Rain Dog. Directed by Jamie Jones, it is a perfect collaboration between two creative forces. French-born singer Victor Marichal leads The Rain Dog on this minor-key, sea shanty/junkyard stomp, the style of which seems like a homage to Victor’s hero, Tom Waits, and sounds like a special nod to the pirate songs of his 1985 ‘Rain Dogs’ album – songs such as ‘Singapore’ and ‘Cemetery Polka’. Victor grabs the viewer’s attention with a theatrical performance, creeping about, sneering, lying flat on the floor, thumping his chest and gesticulating expressively. Where his vaudevillian antics capture the viewer, the strength of his Buckley-esque vocal enraptures the listener. His voice jeers and yells, whispers and winds its way up and down the minor scale of the verses. The arty stage setting for Victor’s performance is complemented by the sad, grey parochial English seaside imagery. The heavy black clouds, empty beaches, disused amusement parks, abandoned arcades and the strange and vacant faces of the local characters combine to produce a video that is arresting and compelling.
Words by Charlie Hannah. Read more by Charlie at The Dentist
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