We’ve been keeping up with the strange odyssey of James Wallace And The Naked Light, and their debut album, More Strange News From Another Star, for quite a long time here at RVA Magazine. From its original release as a limited-edition cassette and Bandcamp download back in 2011 to its re-release on vinyl earlier this year by Dialog Records, Wallace and co. have gotten a lot of mileage out of this debut.
We’ve been keeping up with the strange odyssey of James Wallace And The Naked Light, and their debut album, More Strange News From Another Star, for quite a long time here at RVA Magazine. From its original release as a limited-edition cassette and Bandcamp download back in 2011 to its re-release on vinyl earlier this year by Dialog Records, Wallace and co. have gotten a lot of mileage out of this debut. Considering not only the quality of the gorgeously quirky alt-folk it contains, but the factor of musicians who played as sidemen on this album becoming famous in the interim, who could blame these guys for continuing to try and introduce the by now two-year-old collection of material to more new fans?
Especially when they’re still coming up with stuff as cool as this. The new video for “Worse Things Have Happened” is absolutely a thing that should exist in this world, and if it required a two-year promotional cycle for it to finally happen, then I’m not begrudging them that at all. The song itself is the sort of delightful folk-pop that Wallace excels at, but the video is the real news here. A mini-movie about a girl, a touring punk rock band, and a spaceman who can’t figure out if he’s actually found his way home or not, this astral travelogue all seems to be taking place on a back country road, where the spaceman suddenly finds himself in a meadow with a young female companion. The two of them soon encounter the punk band, who have tattoos on their eyelids and can’t wait to get high off the air from the spaceman’s suit. But at the end, when the girl and the spaceman are alone again, he has to decide whether he’s willing to risk breathing the air outside of the suit, and see if he really can live in the place he’s found himself.
This fascinating video, directed by Drew Bourdet and starring Wallace himself as the astronaut, is entertaining on multiple levels. It’s amusing, thought provoking, and insightful. But most importantly, it’s an excellent showcase for Wallace’s unique musical style, which is kind of a mixture of rural settings and interstellar voyages in its own right. Vinyl copies of More Strange News From Another Star are still available from Dialog Records–click HERE to get one for yourself. And go to The Camel (1621 W. Broad St) tonight to see James Wallace And The Naked Light perform live, along with No BS! Brass Band and Chelsea Temple. Doors open at 8 PM, admission is $7.
By Andrew Necci
