Not to imply that butt-touching and burger-of-the-day naming aren’t pressing concerns, but Bob’s Burgers doesn’t necessarily provide composer Chris Maxwell with the greatest of opportunities for expressing his feelings about the state of the modern world. Hence Nothingland, a new record of indie-pop tunes navigating complex topics arriving tomorrow. As one last teaser of what that project has in store, today he’s sharing “I Declare,” a retro baroque-pop tune highlighting the importance of love—in all its various forms—in a loveless world. In the middle of the taut percussion, precise instrumental swells, and subtly mounting tension, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline stops by to add a little chaos to the composition with a wonky solo.
Maxwell also enlisted the help of his Bob’s Burgers co-workers, who helped animate a video for the new track—including a scene of Cline wilding out on guitar. “It’s been the most rewarding gig of my film and TV composing life, but I’ve never witnessed the process from this perspective,” the songwriter shares of collaborating with director Andy Friz. “Working with Andy, who headed up the animation and developed the storyline, gave me a new respect for how talented and skilled these animators are. I love the way they were able to capture the dystopian environment creeping in, and how Nels’ guitar solo turns it all around. By the end we get to see our two heroes use love to overcome the chaos which is the song’s main message.”
“The whole team and I vibed with ‘I Declare’ immediately,” Friz adds, “and they all independently came to the same kind of narrative feeling: of struggling through a world descending into darkness and chaos, but love ultimately sees them through. I asked everyone to do some concept sketches, contribute ideas for scenes, sketch some character designs, and all those contributed to the final look and feel. We didn’t want to define what that ‘love’ was, either, because I think having only one word in English to define such an all-encompassing and vital human (and animal!) experience is, umm, unfortunate, to put it mildly. We wanted anyone to be able to root for the dogs, and put themselves in their place, just like we put ourselves into the place of the singer.”
Check out the clip below, and pre-order Nothingland before its release tomorrow via Max Recordings here.
