Look, let’s be honest: If you live in Boston but have yet to fall in love with Hallelujah The Hills, you can’t call yourself a real Bostonian. The indie rock act formed back in 2005 when frontman Ryan Walsh sprang to life with inspiration for a collection of songs that went on to become their debut LP, Collective Psychosis Begone. Then things kicked into high gear. They co-wrote a song with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. They collaborated with Jonathan Lethem. The band’s 2009 lineup helped arrange and record Titus Andronicus’ most famous LP — including Walsh on vocals during those epic, empowering lines about Boston in “A More Perfect Union”. Hallelujah The Hills was busy bring rock back to the forefront and put Boston on the map post-Pixies in the process. Now, they’re ready to do so all over again.
Hallelujah The Hills’ fifth full-length album, A Band Is Something To Figure Out, dropped a little over a week ago. The record brings their flavor of indie rock back to our ears so we can do air guitar in our bedrooms and learn new lyrics to scream live. There’s chipper synth, succinct drums, and Walsh’s rounded tone of voice that never ruffles your feathers the wrong way.
One of our favorite tracks on the record, “The Mountain That Wanted More”, comes packed with a punch of catchy hooks and Walsh’s trademark lines. We’re proud to present the song’s music video below in all of its glory.
Written and directed by Ryan Walsh, “The Mountain That Wanted More” music video fits in with the rest of the band’s visual catalog — for good reason. Walsh directed all of Hallelujah The Hills’ videos over the years. As a graduate of Boston University’s film school, it’s only natural. “The Mountain That Wanted More” sees trippy overlapped clips, severed hands, and a sea of people rally behind Walsh and the gang for three minutes of visuals you won’t be able to peel your eyes off of. Who better to explain the video’s backstory than Walsh himself? To help, he spoke with DigBoston about such:
When I wrote the song, I was trying to think of a way to talk about people who want more (more whatever: money, life, love, sex, etc) but are already so lucky that the wanting is completely gross or just ill-conceived. Then I thought about a mountain pleading with someone. “Please, please, just do this one more thing for me.” Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to see a mountain say that to a person? Wouldn’t it highlight how absurd most desires are? That’s how the song came about. Then, to explain away the sub-par special effects available to me at the time of making this video, I put the framing device of a guy watching the whole thing through an old Kintoscope Device because the idea of someone cranking one of those old devices and seeing a video for our band really amused me. The hand/key/figures imagery will be sorted out later between me and my analyst.
Check the video out in full below:
Pick up a copy of A Band Is Something To Figure Out here. Hallelujah The Hills will celebrate the record by throwing an album release show at Great Scott on May 12th. Swale and Old Hat will open. Tickets can be purchased here.
