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Live Review: Panama 'Jungle'

2 June 2015 | 12:11 pm | Katie Rowley

Panama are treating us to another beautifully crafted piece of music and a sumptuous video clip to match 'Jungle', their new single out on Future Classic

Following the release of their blissful Always EP in 2013 and the atmospheric ‘Stay Forever’ last year, PANAMA are treating us to another beautifully crafted piece of music and a sumptuous video clip to accompany.

New single ‘Jungle’ has the same recognisable warm synths and washed out vocals that we have come to associate with the duo. The track has been mixed and produced by Eric J. Dubowsky, who won ‘Best Engineer’ at the ARIA Awards in 2014 for his work mixing Chet Faker’s Built On Glass album and is also known for working with Flight Facilities on their debut LP Down To Earth, which should indicate towards the quality of music writing and production on display here.

The video matches the boys’ sound to a tee – a pastiche of cinematic images and tropes with cars, swimming pools and palm tree lined boulevards. The visuals open with a beautiful blonde haired Baywatch style model posing sensually before a green screen. Next she’s smoking, looking longingly into the camera as she cruises around the Hollywood hills in a low-slung old-fashioned Merc.

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However, all is not as it seems. Behind the glossy exterior, we see the realities of photography and cinema creep through – the magic is slowly unveiled to reveal the stress, the repetition of take after take and the mundane hours spent on set waiting in between shots. It’s a purposefully self-aware video and shows us the construction that goes into creating such seemingly seamless footage.

The directors mix high-end references with popular culture (the girl in the red car is reading Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ whilst a copy of ‘Pulp Fiction’ lies next to her). The colour charts – sickly yellow, ocean blue and dangerous crimson – reflect the three separate story lines and three separate heroines. The concept ties these narratives together when the mysterious girl in the red car reappears for a final curtain call, forcing us to re-examine the previous shots in order to find some form of chronological sense in this intriguing plot.

Ultimately despite the supposedly beautiful LA chic that surrounds them, the girls are beaten. Disinterested, moody and a little forlorn at their situations and the sets around them, we’re shown the realities of video making – it’s not perfect, in fact it’s kind of unsettling and disturbing.

‘Jungle’ is out on June 5 via Future Classic and the band will be playing Sydney’s Metro Theatre (26/7) and Max Watt’s in Melbourne (30/7), supported by their good buddies and UK breakout sensation Years & Years.

Words by Katie Rowley

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