13th Floor New Song Of The Day: Ha The Unclear – Strangers

Our buddies Ha The Unclear have released a new single, Strangers, and we are thrilled to bring it to you.

The song and the video are pretty cool. Here’s the record company blurb with details:

As is often remarked with this band’s songwriting, Michael Cathro’s witty and pithy lyrical phrasing often overlays much deeper and keener observances of life than initial listens might have you believe.

Cathro describes the new song  ‘Strangers’  as “an emphatic celebration of the most common ground of all: temporally mutual existence. It’s an ode to togetherness; the intertwining of our stories as we dance and destroy, love and lose our way from birth to death.“

Bumped into a stranger in an elevator, we’re all going up (or down) together.

Directed by Vision Thing, the ‘Strangers’ video takes the song’s elevator metaphor and finds two office workers trapped in an elevator while on their way to one of Dave’s quarterly financial presentations held on the 14th floor.

On their most comprehensive NZ tour since the release of 2018 album Invisible Lines, and their first release since the Sylvia Massy produced single Julius Caesar, Ha the Unclear are performing six shows around New Zealand in October and November in celebration of new single ‘Strangers‘..

HA THE UNCLEAR

‘STRANGER’ NZ TOUR DATES

Fri 30 October – Auckland – Whammy

Support from Lucky Boy

Sat 31 October – Mt Maunganui – Hocus Pocus Ball*

with. LA Women, Joes Van, Half Moon Baby

Thu 5 November – Christchurch – Darkroom

Support from Asta Rangu

Fri 6 November – Dunedin – Dive

Support from Asta Rangu & Neive Strang

Thy 12 November – Whanganui – Porridge Watson

Support TBC

Sat 14 November – Wellington – Meow

Support from Sofia Marchay

Tickets at – undertheradar.co.nz

*Mt Maunganui tickets available from TicketSpace

After a huge 2019 in which the band signed with French label Think Zik; spent time filming and recording in Paris; and showcased at MaMa Festival, a European 2020 was scheduled for the re-release of their albums. With borders still at an impasse, they instead burrowed into a boutique North Otago studio and vineyard, leaning hard into the jankiness to produce this new track, invoking the mutilated spirits of ABBA, 70s era Talking Heads and quintessential 80s New Zealand yob rock.

Made up musicians Michael Cathro (vocals/guitar), Ben Sargeant  (drums), Paul Cathro (bass) and Theo Francis (guitar), Ha the Unclear have been charming the indie world with their off-kilter, guitar-driven pop songs that have seen them tour with Courtney Barnett, support The Shins, The Dandy Warhols and Jeffrey Lewis