REPAIRS – Map, Territory: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day

Today REPAIRS share the NZ On Air funded music video for their latest single Map, Territory, where they explore ideas of camp horror and pastoral dread.

Here’s the blurb with more:

For more than half a decade Martin Phillips (he/him), Nicola Edwards (she/her) and James Milne (he/him) have been performing as REPAIRS, a noisy rock group based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, NZ).

Powerful, personal and political, REPAIRS are experts at playing with tension and release. Sprechgesang breaks into screaming, rhythms curtly jolt while guitars soar overhead. An incredibly dedicated live act, REPAIRS have supported local legends Die! Die! Die!, Sulfate and Carb On Carb, as well as international cult favourites June of 44 and Screaming Females. The band are regulars on the local circuit performing at Loserpalooza and The Others Way.

Map, Territory marks REPAIRS’ third collaboration with Kat Waswo from WAZKAT Productions (2020’s Last Chances and Pop Song) and takes inspiration from the folk horror masterpiece Midsommar, the found footage of The Blair Witch Project and the evocative title sequence to Yellowjackets. The video masterfully induces a feeling of discomfort, skillfully disorienting viewers and intensifying the anxiety levels inherent in the original track.

“My first impression of the song was that it immediately took me somewhere else, the lyrics and the mood just absolutely captured me” says Waswo.

“Listening to the track I could see yellows, blues, and oranges – and then I imagined this story of a flower goddess leading the main characters astray in a forest. I was really keen on creating a dual timeline – one is a story of friends going on a bush walk and nearly getting lost. The other, an abstract montage of clips to complement the story and the light and dark energy in the song.”

“With REPAIRS’ inspo reference was the opening sequence to ‘Yellowjackets’ (which I love), I perceived the flower goddess as a mischievous feminine energy – colourful, instinctive and surprising. James had brought along a wolf mask and during the editing process I realised the character was like a masculine balance to the goddess in the abstract storyline. Other motifs include flowers, hands and eyes – all alluding to the senses and the subconscious state. Randomly, I watched ‘Midsommar’ for the first time after completing the video production – so the yellow flower eyes had me shook!”

Now that Map, Territory is released Waswo notes “This is my third video with REPAIRS and they’re just the loveliest bunch of humans to work with.” The feeling is reciprocal with Edwards reflecting that “Kat just gets the music that we make, and is an absolute joy to work with and be around.”