Toothless reveals music video for 'The Sirens' ft The Staves - premiere

'We wanted to show a stranger side; full of surprises, gender fluidity and mystical abandon'

(Press image)

Toothless, the new solo project from Ed Nash [Bombay Bicycle Club], has put out a brilliant video for his single 'The Sirens', which we're premiering today on The Independent.

Cast through Facebook with people who live and work in Ibiza, the video stars an eclectic range of characters and manages to capture that sense of hedonism the island is renowned for, along with a darker, more mysterious side.

Watch the video below:

Director Kit Monteith, who made the video alongside Joseph Keirs and Sef Tedder, tells The Independent: "4 sleepless nights in Ibiza trying to show the island's surreal and seductive qualities in ways that have never been done before. When one thinks of Ibiza, particularly when it appears in music videos, its all beach parties, clubs and heteronormative perspectives.

"We wanted to show a stranger side; full of surprises, gender fluidity and mystical abandon. We've tried to show a 'normal' guy's journey into a world of hedonism; where he is chewed up and spat out by the Sirens of the island where it’s always unclear who is using who?

"We found real people that live, love and work on Ibiza. Notably James, our Drag Queen on a stallion, who by day is an instructor at a riding school and by night has a successful drag show...he'd never revealed one side of his life to the other until we helped to bring together his life's two greatest passions for the video.

"Similarly there was Charlie, our pregnant dog walker, who wanted to be involved in the project mainly to get some high quality footage of her looking beautiful and powerful with her baby bump to send to her partner, as due to visa issues, he is stuck in Senegal for the pregnancy and birth of their child."

Q&A with Toothless

What are you listening to at the moment?

I have spent a lot of my time listening to podcasts over the past year while recording the album, I find it’s a great way to switch off while making music. I was very late to the podcast party so have been catching up on the classics. At the moment I’m listening to the Adam Buxton podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish, and the Sam Harris podcast... a strange mix. Music wise, I have been listening to Skeleton Tree. I’ve always been a huge Nick Cave fan and this is one of the best albums he has made (if not the best).

The video for the track is stunning - how do you feel about the way the visuals work with the music?

I’ve always thought it incredibly important for the visuals (both videos and artwork) to reflect what is happening with the music. For this video, I wanted to do a modern take on the idea of the Sirens, the idea of temptation and wanting to give into it at your disadvantage. The single cover for The Sirens also fits into this modern day siren idea... instead of the sirens looking out at the sailors from the rocks, they look out at them from the swimming pool.

What are your plans for the rest of 2016?

Now that the album is just about done, I’m keen to start playing shows again. It’s the thing I enjoy the most and it’s been almost two years since I have been on tour. I’m also still writing and recording music, and will start thinking about putting together album two... there's no time like the present!

What was the first gig you ever played and what's been the best so far?

I played at a school fair with my first band when I was 14. We played Song 2 by Blur into Supersonic by Oasis, without any sense of irony.

My favourite show so far was earlier this year, when I played at The Moth Club in London, for Toothless' live debut. It was an amazing feeling to play the songs that I had been working on for a year for the first time. It’s also London's best small venue at this point.