Forest Ray release “Black Pine” video

Seattle-based band Forest Ray last week unveiled the official music video for their latest single, “Black Pine”. The title track of the six-piece’s forthcoming new full-length, the song was recorded at the Croatian American church in Anacortes, Washington, in a fully analog recording process tracked live to tape.

Featuring a syncopated folk rock groove, “Black Pine” sees the group melding psychedelic hues with subtle noise rock touches, creating a dreamy, Real Estate-esque kind of vibe. In a press release, the group revealed that the verse, cycling around a 7/4 time with subtlety, is “a quiet homage to the complex rhythms of the Balkans.”

The video follows frontman Peter Sumic in his car travelling for a couple of days. During a one-night stopover in what appears to be a valley, he sings to the stars in an apostrophic manner. “Were you there/ when I looked up at the stars?/ In the end/ well, I hope that’s where you are,” he croons.

Dawn arrives and Sumic drives off to an open field where he continues his reflection. Finally, the video reveals that he is in fact en route to a cemetery. As soon as he arrives, he pulls out from his leather jacket a roll of white tape labeled “Black Pine”, looked at it for a moment, kneels down, and put it atop a headstone where he apparently says a prayer.

A wailing fuzz-imbued guitar solo comes off towards the outro as flashes of nostalgic memories takes over, pacifying the deliberately quirky time signature underneath. Sumic is then last seen leaving the place—his hands thrusted into his coat’s pockets—seemingly relieved and released for the moment.

Directed by Conor O’Keefe, “Black Pine” is the third video single from Forest Ray. Watch it below.

Sam Corrazza

Sam is a mediocre artist, musician, and the founder and editor in chief of UNXIGNED. He is a Juris Doctor who leads an excitingly boring life in the confines of his room juggling studies with passion and dreams. He is terrible at finding balance but gets by anyhow. He wants you to follow his artist pages and channels for when he decides to up his game. Pretty open for collabs and will mix your would-be hit song for cheap.