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Create in the same room long enough, and it’s likely to become a three-dimensional map of one’s personality. That’s especially true for musicians. Step inside a musician’s home studio, and music listeners will know exactly what kind of music he makes — and more importantly, how intense his attachment to that music is.
The stop-motion animated music video for “What’s Next?,” the debut single from Reduction in Force, is about as comprehensive an introduction to pop-rock singer and songwriter Mike Mills as any listener could ever want. In the video, Mills’ bursting music room comes alive, and every object has a story to tell. Mix tapes, Vox, a Sony Sports walkman, Fender, colored vinyl spinning on a turntable, Fillmore posters, and a whole life laid out in memorabilia and photographs testify to his devotion to a vision. A future meticulously crafted – rooted in transformation. And, there’s a time stamp. The stack of childhood photos validates how long his desire to create has been with him (30+years). A sports page from the San Diego newspaper trumpets, “Dreams Do Come True,” grounding him in Southern California while also providing a glimmer of hope in a childhood full of wounds stemming from rooting for a perennial loser.
But mostly, it’s the LPs on the wall that let fans know exactly where Mills is coming from. He’s covered his room with the classics of new wave, post-punk, and ‘80s and ‘90s alternative rock: Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Human League, New Order, and Peter Gabriel’s third. From this DNA comes “What’s Next?” Mills builds upon the sound and feeling of his musical heroes with a track that channels the mystery, the reflection, and rebellion, and the urgency of the music that he embraces. That slashing overdriven six-string, the throbbing synthesizer, the relentless electronic beat, and the deadpan — but magnetic — vocals are all indebted to the Second British Invasion, the golden age of college radio, with some updates under the hood.
For the latest on Reduction In Force, follow him at http://www.reduction-in-force.com/ for more info.
