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Shrinari unveil "Listen Up" music video

Photo credit: Jethro Tanner

London indie-folk act Shrinari have released the music video for their single “Listen Up.”

The visual, which can be seen below, was directed by Frida Wiita with footage of Brazil’s Huni Kuin tribe shot by Scott Murden. Vocalist Lucidia Omamori said this about the song’s importance:

"I read a book as a teenager, which incorporates two speeches by Native American Indians called “How can one sell the air?” (A manifesto for the Earth). It evoked an innate understanding in me as I always had a strong passion towards environmental causes. I really felt strongly about protecting the Earth and could not understand the choices we were making to go against this.

This book came to mind when I was writing the song, further influenced by our time shared with Huni Kuni people and Native Americans whose interconnectedness with Earth and respect for her as our mother rings true throughout my being. It was beautiful to share this at the Extinction Rebellion protests in London. I do hope the song inspires people to take environmental action in whatever ways they are able to."

Composer Rafael Marchante Angulo also said this about the track:

"Creating 'Listen Up' was a beautiful adventure, it came out as quite experimental to start with, the initial version was a good 90 sec longer and featured an extended middle section. We decided to cut it down and then we reworked it completely, adding Idris Rahman’s lush horn section and recording some instruments again to take advantage of my improved recording skills two years on.

This song is about the obvious fact that, when you live in immediate and constant touch with nature, you have a naturally unshakeable connection with it and there are things you’d never do, let alone destroy the environment the way it is being destroyed due to our industrial level blindness. Again it’s not about some idilic idea, even though we love things idyllic: our very survival is in question. This is a recurring theme in our songs because it’s such an important issue. Probably the most important together with human rights violations around the world, which the indigenous defenders of ancestral lands and ways of life suffer constantly."

“Listen Up” comes from Shrinari’s new studio album Hold On To The Hope, Though, which is out now on digital services.