Obscura Hail – the Melbourne-via-Wollongong indie rock trio, helmed by musician Sean Conran, digitally release their new EP Siren via Dot Dash, and physically as a combined Siren EP / Zero EP on 12″ vinyl. The band have also shared a beautiful video for ‘Penumbra‘ – directed by Rick Clifford and shot in Conran’s lounge room during Melbourne’s lockdown.
Conran says of the video – “This one was low key special for us, we filmed it in our recently born loungeroom live-stream studio in front of an old overhead projector, just Tam and I, having streamed a set early that day in the same outfits. The stool spinning was a big plus and obvs put us in a good mood to sing along to a track that contains so many strong memories. Those Gameboy Cam photos were the first I ever snapped, and I couldn’t bring myself to delete them to make room for more so they sat on that cartridge since the first week I was using it! Rick knew how to bring the best out of what we filmed, and even added a neat Gameboy era intro that triggers some super strong nostalgia.”
Using Obscura Hail as a vessel, Conran is externalising memory for the sake of preservation. Over an untold number of late-night recording sessions in an evolving ad-hoc home studio, Conran has amassed a rich musical archive of alternating styles and an obsessive commitment to songwriting as a craft.
A project that began as a way to remember, Conran shares – “Obscura Hail began as a routine of externalising memory for the sake of preservation due to a fear of Alzheimer’s. It was brought on by receiving my first amalgam filling; to carry on a legacy, to calcify meaning and importance of my lived experience, should I need reminding.”
