Ed Schrader’s Music Beat released the gleeful new video for “Riddles,” the title track of their buzzy third album, produced by avant-garde composer Dan Deacon.
The video, directed by Jay Buim, opens like a Baltimore film noir. Beneath the glow of a streetlamp, singer Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice trudge to local venue, the Crown, looking beleaguered in their suit and ties. But as the jittery piano converges with Rice’s bass, the scene morphs into a ragtag parallel universe where Schrader’s as big as Frank Sinatra – though he sounds more like Morten Harket – and oozes British glam.
The band’s real-life collaborators and friends live out amplify the euphoria with their own dress-up fantasies. Deacon, Lexie Mountain, Rozie Jordan, Kevin Blackstone, Kevin Sherry, Jeff McGrath (formerly of Thank You), rapper DDm preen in flashy, thrift store threads over the song’s New Wave rumble.
Riddles is the first record Deacon produced for another band and worked on it while he was also working on the soundtrack for the acclaimed documentary Rat Film, he told Rolling Stone last year. With Deacon, ESMB fleshed out their elemental drum-and-bass sound and embrace a more accessible New Wave direction. “The [Ed Schrader’s Music Beat] record is going to be a big deal,” Deacon said at the time. “It’s got strings … it’s melodic, Ed is just singing.”
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat are on an expansive tour in the United States and Europe in support of Riddles. They released the video for the unbridled punk rock song, “Dunce,” in January. The band also recently performed as the musical guest on Adult Swim’s Williams Street Swap Shop.
Riddles Track List
1. Dunce
2. Seagull
3. Riddles
4. Dizzy Devil
5. Wave To The Water
6. Rust
7. Kid Radium
8. Humbucker Blues
9. Tom
10. Culebra
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat Tour Dates
3/9 – Atlanta, GA @ Mammal Gallery
3/12 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s Downtown
3/13 – Dallas, TX @ Transit Bicycle Company
3/14 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
3/15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/18 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/19 – Hot Springs, AK @ VOV Fest
3/20 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
3/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
3/24 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
3/26 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project
3/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
3/29 – San Francisco, CA @ Make Out Room
3/31 – Portland, OR @ The Know
4/4 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag Records
4/5 – Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
4/6 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
4/7 – Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters Rock N Roll Palace
4/8 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
4/10 – Toronto, ON @ Baby G
4/11 – Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
4/12 – Providence, RI @ AS220
4/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
