Talented British post-punk newcomers Desperate Journalist remain restless ever since they released their still really great self-titled debut album in 2015. Ain’t no year without a new release from the furious four-piece and 2018 is no exception to the rule. Following last year’s sophomore album Grow Up, the band around charismatic singer Jo Bevan is now readying a new EP called You Get Used To It. It Gets Better is the powerful first track from it and NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is happy to support these folks once again by debuting the accompanying music video today.
‘The song is about feeling stuck in a place of adolescent anxiety,’ explains Bevan the notion of the track in a statement. She furthermore states: ‘I have very vague memories of my teenage years because I kind of shot through them tightly balled up in a fist of self-loathing and despair, and the words are evocations of the little moments of history which randomly recall flashes of from time to time.’ In the end, things got indeed better for the Desperate Journalist singer but the song itself works as a setback to these more nihilistic and less optimistic times.
Despite the dark post-punk sound of It Gets Better the accompanying music video spreads a more joyful and positive vibe. It documents a freezing Sunday in Hampstead Heath earlier in the year when Bevan was actually taught how to ride a bike by the band’s manager James. And that was indeed a big deal for her:
‘I’d never learned properly – my dad tried to teach me when I was a child, but I was so terrified of injury and the shame of failing that I kept having tantrums whenever he tried and he gave up eventually. As an adult I’ve always been a bit frustrated that I couldn’t do it; the independence of cycling appeals and symbolically my lack of the ability felt like a limiting remnant of my awkward, fearful youth. This EP and the single are about progression and the snags and patterns of childhood and adolescence, so it seemed a natural fit to try and learn to ride for the video. I am pleased to say that I can just about do it now. Also: James is an endlessly patient man!’
It’s a really lovely adventure we’re experiencing right here and if you are still not a Desperate Journalist fan by now, this might as well convince you. The EP You Get Used To It arrives on March 30 via Fierce Panda, followed by the live dates you can find below this clip.