Earlier this year, Seattle's own Your Heart Breaks released their ninth studio album, the riveting Drone Butch Blues. An important queer concept album, the LP takes the writings of historic and contemporary GLBTQI authors and weaves them through the perspective of local artist Clyde Petersen.
On the track "The Party's Over," Petersen looks to the journals and writings of multimedia artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz. (You might remember his famous photograph Untitled (Buffaloes) used by the band U2 for their 1989 single "One," whose packaging included Wojnarowicz's statement that he "identifies himself and ourselves with the buffalo, pushed into the unknown by forces we cannot control or even understand.") The lyrics reflect on Wojnarowicz's old stomping grounds in Greenwich Village. Petersen explains, "'The Party's Over' is about the pier at Christopher Street and the death of the gay disco in New York City."
The video, filmed at Seattle's beloved performance space On the Boards, features Petersen sitting in the audience as local dance duo Dandy (Seattle artists Randy Ford & David Rue) move in tandem through the song's solemn piano chords. Dressed in matching orange turtlenecks and black slacks, they sweep across the darkened stage, their every movement contrasting against the background. "They choreographed the performance for our album release party and performed it live at the show," Petersen tells us. Watch the premiere of the video below. Your Heart Breaks plays Sunday, November 3rd at the Woodland Theater with Bad Moves and Iji, with artwork by Darius X.
