Garvie’s here to tell you to embrace your “Villain”

Anger’s a powerful motivator. And it gets a bad rap. Garvie lays out a wonderfully comic book-esque tale of fighting his own villain. The appropriately named “Villain” is the second installation in his Garvie Cinematic Universe, following an 8-bit representation of his own life as a singer-songwriter and producer.

It’s not just the video that’s filled with pixelated humor. The playful synths almost have an old-school videogame vibe, complete with a fake shotgun sound. During the bridge, Garvie goes full nostalgia with a faraway voice supported by block chords from the keys.

The lighthearted touches balance out the simmering rage behind the lyrics. “I’ve been saving all my fury especially for you,” he opens. “You’re my villain, and I love to hate you so,” he later claims. As the rhythm graciously sways forward along with funk-imbued vocal hooks, Garvie creates a world artfully his own.

The guitar grooves, stark over the sparse harmony, leave room for the wry storytelling. And when Garvie’s voice arcs into falsetto, the line between hero and villain blurs beautifully. Anger’s a powerful motivator, after all.

Watch “Villain” below.

Ben McCoy

Ben is an advertising Madman who spends his days with words and music. When he’s not writing for his supper, he’s eating it at some of NYC’s most interesting restaurants.