Social media has created the most obvious conflation of money and influence since the height of Hearst’s newspaper era. Not that even Deafheaven can escape its pull. Keen to manage spring touring, summer festivals and more shows in the autumn all after LPWP is out, they’ve devised a blitzkrieg launch campaign between the January 27 announcement and March 28 release. Sean Stout and Chelsea Jade’s striking monochrome video for Magnolia got things rolling, but the series of short clips for each song directed by So Cal/Austin collective Muted Widows – tying, ultimately, into an overarching narrative – more clearly outline the album’s front-to-back brilliance.
Excellent as it is to reach listeners while adding artistic depth, it is counterbalanced by the negative ways Facebook and Instagram, X and TikTok have changed everything. On one level, George sees goalposts shifted for kids in search of fame and fortune.
“Young people have to be forgiven to a certain extent, celebrity culture has always existed and glitz is appealing by its very nature. But where previously you had to sacrifice a lot in the knowledge you probably wouldn’t succeed, now you ‘make it’ in smaller degrees with comments and likes and then monetisation. What was once a dream for some has become a [business] for others.”
Insidious algorithms, twisted digital reality and dead-eyed owners interminably extending their grip, however, can’t be so easily overlooked.
“People ask whether I think that we’re living through an unprecedented moment,” George frowns. “I don’t think we are. So long as media has existed, people have yearned to shape it. But technology has changed that. Social media has this instant, addictive quality. It feels immediate and all-consuming and there are forces trying to emphasise those feelings. It’s a constant barrage of fear-mongering and bad news. People aren’t allowed to relax.”
So when tech billionaires are taking up front-row seats that should have gone to elected officials at a United States presidential inauguration, it’s hardly heartening…
“I’m no historian,” he says. “I’m sure people have exerted similar influence over our leaders before. But it’s hard not to feel like it’s a bit of a mockery. I see it like pharmaceutical CEOs walking into a roomful of junkies addicted to their drugs. At this point, they’re just laughing. What’s done is done. Their influence is so strong, and people are so lost within it, that they don’t need to be shadowy about their intentions any more. Because there are no repercussions…”