Pic by Lucinda White //
The Sydney trio turn things up a notch with their latest offering.
If you’ve been following Baby Beef like we have (and you really should be), you’ll have noticed a certain DIY charm to their video clips. Over the past couple of years, as they’ve gone from outsider pop oddity to celebrated Sydney circuit mainstay, their videos have mostly been created by the band themselves, resulting in visuals that champion creativity whilst maintaining a down-to-earth feel. With today’s release, it seems they’ve turned a corner both musically and artistically, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be sharing with you.
‘Beautiful Hands’ is an introspective ballad that, through a series of poetically balanced lines, deals with self-acceptance and navigating the often spiky world of self-love. It’s Baby Beef’s biggest moment, stepping out from behind the curtain for a long look into the mirror and learning to love what they see.
Shimmering synth lines and a drum machine give the tune an inescapable 80s flavour, with Mumma Beef and Christian Values providing an angelic underlining to Baby Beef’s baritone. Values’ solo vocal is one of the track’s standout segments as he juxtaposes the romantic with the mundane, before the verse washes away in a flurry of Spanish sentiments.
The video, which was produced and directed by new kids on the block Dirty555 Productions, captures the essence of the song perfectly. Here we take a step back in time to a forgotten 80s studio where giant hands, ethereal mannequins and milk come together in a wash of purple and blue lights. Scratchy VHS by Throat Pasta reminds us that Baby Beef DIY spirit is still alive, as the trio deliver their career-best performances amongst a collage of intoxicating scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpRQ865A4Q
We caught up with Baby Beef to chat about ‘Beautiful Hands’, relish and more. Check it out below and stay beautiful:
First up, how have BB been holding during these trying times?
At this stage I’m not sure how Baby Beef has been holding up, but we have held up and that’s more than can be said for a lot of people right now. I’m thankful for existence… It’s an unsettling world for many reasons right now so it’s easy to question the point of anything on the darker days. Productivity is more of a roller coaster than ever, which has worked in both an encouraging and deflating way. I miss a lot of things, like the chance encounters that a less restricted world had more of.
You released the Baby Beef official relish at your Vanguard show a coupla weeks back. How have sales been?
Sales have been great! So much so that we’re already planning our next batch. It’ll be spicier. The world will never not need condiments.
Is there plans to expand the Baby Beef merchandising into other products? I could see a Baby Beef tracksuit maintenance kit selling well…
A tracksuit maintenance kit… that’s something I’m sure we’d be happy putting our name to, and something I could really use right now, my top two tracksuits are currently out of order…
I’ve been writing a self care guide currently, I can see that getting printed into some sort of trading card game. We also have new T-shirts just around the corner.
The band are big advocates for self-love, why is this important to you?
Self love is important to us because self love is important to the future of humanity.
There’s nothing more exhilarating than feeling beautiful, and treating yourself accordingly. Unique and exciting ideas are unlocked from embracing who you are and running with it.
Tell us about ‘Beautiful Hands’ – what does that song mean to you?
Beautiful Hands is about keeping in touch with your ever evolving inner beauty. It’s about experiencing dramatic fluctuations on your personal spectrum of emotion while trying to react and understand the people in the world around you. It was inspired by a series of social and romantic experiences I had last year that left me questioning my ability to understand anyone, which ultimately led to me a period of time in which I felt particularly unsophisticated, out of touch and definitely not beautiful..
The clip looks amazing, how did you come up with the concept? What was the inspo?
Thank you! This is the first non DIY clip we’ve done, teaming up with Clover and Claire at Dirty 555. If I remember correctly, negotiations started between Clover and I at one of our shows last year after a lot of Jameson. It was pretty exciting when the ball kept rolling in the sober light of day and eventually they slammed us with a magical, sparkling pitch that really struck a chord with us.
Their idea of an exploration into a kitsch realm of existential inter-personalism, or a ‘dream scape bonanza’ really aligned nicely with the greater vision of Baby Beef, so it was a no brainer to extend our arms and let them into the family. They made us look and feel so beautiful and sexy and we’re excited to work with them again.
How was the experience of sitting in a pool of milk, getting milk poured over you? Milky?
It definitely was milky, yes. I have particularly stiff hips so it because a game of endurance by the end, sitting there crossed legged, milky, sweaty and tired… It felt sexy, in the same way the song does to me.
Can you sum up the EP in three words?
Big beef energy
What else is happening for BB in 2020?
The EP will be out in October, and ideally the shows we have planned will go ahead, because there are some exciting ones booked.. We’ve been in the studio writing and recording the next chapter of our lives, and will continue to do so over the next couple of months.
