Discovery: The Good Natured
ABOVE: THE GOOD NATURED. IMAGE COURTESY OF EMI
“Video Voyeur,” the first single off of The Good Natured’s upcoming LP, is about just that—voyeurism. Reminiscent of that oh-so-famous Police song (at least in theme), the song details obsessive observation from the point of view of the onlooker. The band hasn’t heard of the other ’80s classic about unsettling surveillance, Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” but you can’t really blame them; the song came out in 1984, almost a decade before the birth of the band’s youngest member, Hamish. In spite of their youth, ’80s influences pervade The Good Natured’s sound and visuals. Their aesthetic is a somber, Robert Smith-esque one. Deceptively upbeat electro-pop beats and steady drum rhythms accompany rather dark lyrics such as “I can see you, follow you wherever you go.” Like many typical ’80s videos, the video for “Video Voyeur,” which you can stream below, is set on an empty, sallow soundstage, brightened only occasionally with the flicker of X-ray-like rainbow colors.
We caught up with front-woman and song-writer Sarah McIntosh, who is surprisingly cheerful, on the way to her sound-check in L.A.
AGE: 21 [Sarah], 20 [George], 19 [Hamish]
HOMETOWN: Newbury, England [Hamish and Sarah] and Taunton, Somerset [George]
MEMBERS: Siblings Sarah and Hamish McIntosh, and George Hinton.
U.S. SHOWS: We’ve played at South by Southwest and CMJ before, but now we’re doing individual club gigs.
SOUNDS LIKE: Dark pop. I wouldn’t say our lyrics are violent, aggressive maybe, not violent. It’s pop with an edge, but ultimately it’s still pop.
INFLUENCED BY: I grew up listening to the stuff my parents listened to—Sixousie and the Banshees, Blondie, Tears for Fears, Japan.
PLAYING SINCE: I was about 15. [Hamish and I] were a twosome, then I met George at university and we became a threesome.
SILLIEST GIG MEMORY: We once got chucked out of our own gig because we were underage; I was 17 and Hamish was 15. When we play in the US we get these big Xs drawn on our hands, which is quite funny.
ON PICKING A POSTER FOR THEIR US TOUR: We had a contest [through social media] to design our U.S. tour poster. We got about 150 entries, I was quite surprised. We ended up picking this one that is quite pop-art.
DROPPING OUT OF UNIVERSITY: I went to university to play music, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m learning more [by being in The Good Natured] then I would at uni.
ON “VIDEO VOYEUR”: It’s about being watched.
TO DOWNLOAD “VIDEO VOYEUR,” VISIT THE GOOD NATURED’S FACEBOOK PAGE.
