M(h)aol – Attachment Styles
Fresh from a blistering set at Pitchfork London, acclaimed Irish post-punkers M(h)aol—namely, Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland, Zoë Greenway, and Sean Nolan—officially release their full-length debut Attachment Styles in North America, complete with a music video for Merge-exclusive track “Jack”!
Taking influence from the tour diaries of yore, “Jack” is a collage of images from a band on the verge of breakthrough and change, shot by the band and friends and assembled by Zoë, who composed a statement about the video:
In this mesmerizing audiovisual tapestry, you are invited to explore an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse of M(h)aol’s life on tour and their music videos for their debut album, Attachment Styles. The video, heavily inspired by The Urethra Chronicles and Life on the Murder Scene, weaves an intricate web of moments and incorporates a haunting twist that delves into the fragility of those memories and the search for tranquility amidst the chaos.
As the boundaries of reality blur, “Jack” unravels the very fabric of time and perception. The video unfolds as a phantasmagoric journey, inviting viewers to traverse the nebulous terrain of the band’s collective consciousness. Within this ethereal landscape, reality and illusion converge and live performances meld with dreamlike sequences, leaving the audience suspended in a liminal state between the past and the present.
“Jack” emphasizes the significance of finding moments of peace and joy amidst the whirlwind of touring life. Whether it’s going to Lidl in an unfamiliar city, assembling a mega Kinder Surprise egg with just your mouth, an antiseptic duck robot lurking in a Hamburgian mall, or the quiet reflection on the fate of a dog once overworked and now resting in the stillness of a freezer, these are the ephemeral gems that shine through the chaos.
“Jack” was a visual attempt at processing the luck, fun, gratitude, and appreciation I had for this period of time, and honoring the memories made together in a wild situation. I was trying to find reverence or fun in difficult times because each day is a gift when you are mortal and fragile, and it’s important to attempt to witness it all with kindness. When these special things happen in life, you know you can’t hold onto them. They’re intangible, you know you can’t stop time to live in them, they become unreachable once they’ve been experienced. All you can do is be present with them, appreciate and explore them as they unfold before your eyes. Nothing in this world is around for very long—time passes, moments happen so fast, then they’re gone. Always forever. There’s no way of retrieving the past, but there are little windows you can carve out along the way, holding those fragments preciously before they turn into dust like everything on the earth eventually will. Except for maybe the consciousness of the internet, where this can now live forever and make more AI out of itself.
M(h)aol will close out the year in St. Gallen, Switzerland—rumor is that they’re playing new songs on the road!
M(h)aol on tour:
Dec 22 St. Gallen, CH – Palace St. Gallen
Jan 05 Bognor Regis, UK – Rockaway Music Festival
#mhaolmusic
