Nuke the Soup delivers stylized take on Americana via new Single

Ocean waves crashing. Dust settling over the open road. The crest of the mountain range below a setting sun. The gilded lights of an urban backdrop might be nice to look at every now and then, but there’s something special about the surreal pastoral landscape depicted in the music video for Nuke the Soup’s “Oceans and Mountains” single, currently out and making a critical impact on the summer indie rock scene. Reflected in the music beautifully, this imagery feels like an extension of Mark Davison’s melodic sway in every way that matters when making a simple – but ultimately evocative – video.

From a lyrical standpoint, Davison is lending a lot of duality to the narrative here, and given the state of our society, there’s a message about togetherness despite distance in “Oceans and Mountains” that resonates particularly well this season.

Even when we’re separated and seemingly at our most isolated, there’s a spirituality to artistic mediums like music that keeps us connected and feeling the same energy that these grooves (and their visual counterpart in the waves) inspire in person through kinship. This is a rather artsy piece when you look at it like that, and a superb addition to Nuke the Soup’s discography for sure.

There are a lot of good videos coming out this July, but of those that I’ve had the chance to take a look at lately, this is one of the best in the indie rock genre. Nuke the Soup’s stylized take on Americana isn’t the lone example of the aesthetic’s comeback in the alternative lexicon, but it’s undeniably a one of a kind document nonetheless. Few singer/songwriters have the sheer prowess that Mark Davison does in the studio, and his talents are on full display for all the world to enjoy in this release.

Mindy McCall