The week of Bloodstock Open Air is upon us and Final Coil have unveiled the last piece of their Countdown To Bloodstock video series. Following on from four live videos, recorded at the band’s London album launch for third album The World We Inherited, the band now present a visually stunning new promo video for the song ‘Stay With Me‘. Ambitious, dramatic and memorable this is the finest video that Final Coil have ever released.
Watch the new ‘Stay With Me’ video here:
Speaking about the remarkable ‘Stay With Me’ film, Final Coil front man Phil Stiles said:
“While there were discussions in the band as to the best way to follow up Chemtrails, I always had Stay With Me in mind, partly because it’s so different sonically, and partly because it’s the perfect sequel in a narrative sense. The challenge was to create a video that had a cleaner look, to reflect the music, while advancing the story in a way that felt organic.
We were incredibly lucky. Once we had the storyboards done, it turned out that all the people who had so kindly given their time on previous projects were happy to come out to play once again. Elin, who did such a great job creating the squat in Convicted of the Right, returned to build our “conspiracy board”, and she produced something far better than we could have hoped to build. Ali, the devious torturer (who may or may not be real) from Chemtrails returned, this time adopting an approach closer to O’Brian in 1984. Lou, who’s helped on most of the videos (and starred in a couple), was also on hand providing invaluable support and, of course, we had the redoubtable Jay Hillyer behind the camera. It never fails to amaze me how generous these guys are with their time and, without them, I don’t think we could have done this. We owe them a lot.
The shoot itself, as our shoots always are, was hard work but a lot of fun. We had given ourselves an ambitious target, with three separate sets to build on the day, as well as to get all the filming done. In the end, we not only managed it all, but we had a blast doing it – the atmosphere surprisingly light on a set where the tone of the story was necessarily dark. Looking at the finished result, it’s funny to think we spent most of the time laughing and joking in between the various menacing takes we needed.
In narrative terms, it is a direct sequel to Chemtrails. Where, in that video, the protagonist was being tortured to reveal what they knew of the Chemtrails programme (whether in their mind or in reality); here, the techniques have become more subtle. While the protagonist tries to hold on to the memories of friends and loved ones, slowly they are pushed further towards the dark conspiracies that, by the end of the album, lead to an act of unspeakable violence. At a time where we’re seeing so much violence, hate, and misinformation, it feels more pertinent than ever, and I think it stands as a commentary on the power that these theories can wield – especially given the platform that social media represents.
I loved every minute of making this video clip. I think it is the best one we have done to date, with all the experience of the previous clips providing the necessary skills to pull off something that is both ambitious and meaningful. I really hope our fans enjoy the trip but, for me, I think it perfectly augments the journey the album takes.”
Final Coil will be appearing at 5:15pm on Friday August 9th on the New Blood stage at Bloodstock Open Air 2024
The new Final Coil merch store is now open with a fantastic range of designs and items, so get yourself ready for Bloodstock right here
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