Dutch indie group The Klittens are following their earlier singles ‘Canned Air’ and ‘Herkenbosch’ with their new single ‘Pristine Blue’, the latest to be released ahead of the band’s new EP Citrus to be released in April.
Speaking of how she found the routine of her life in lockdown both repetitive and tense, only occasionally broken by unexpected highs that ‘were experienced more intensely by the constrictions’, the core of the track was written by drummer and backing vocalist Laurie Zantinge.
The band say that ‘Pristine Blue’ is ‘a lament that exposes the anger and frustration under the surface of a seemingly peaceful relationship and an indictment of the indifference that will lead to its end’. The repetitive lyrics are trying to reflect the repetitive nature of conflicts within relationships.
“The resulting friction can spark an explosion, but the ashes are just as easily buried and forgotten about afterwards”, the band say. “’And it quakes and quivers’ is sung when the tension seems to boil over, only to stop mid-sentence and keep it in a little longer.”
The music video for ‘Pristine Blue’ was recorded in collaboration with Staat van Verval, a group of young artists illustrating the song with a moving sculpture project – reflecting the state of humanity in a world of ‘seemingly endless extensions of lockdown measures, limited mobility and continuing disappointment’.
It seems the track is expressing a deep boredom or even indifference – they just don’t seem very bothered. It’s that boredom that the conflict arises from, as if looking for something to do to pass the time. A great reflection of how a lot of us must have felt during lockdown, at a time when human contact was quite limited and a fight with the partner might be the only interaction with another person we’d have that day.
Words: Clara Bullock // Photo: Josje van Stekelenburg
‘Pristine Blue’ is taken from the Klittens’ forthcoming EP ‘Citrus’, out April 15th. Pre-order the EP and stream the track via Bandcamp.