Actress-turned-singer Lola Kirke goes out for a night on the town in Japan alone in the video for her new song “Monster,” which will appear on her upcoming debut album. In the clip, the Mozart in the Jungle star gets out of bed, takes a walk, chugs a bottle of “fish juice” with the requisite heaving that follows, gobbles some sushi, goes to the aquarium and stands still as blood drips down her body – all leading up to a supernatural twist at the end.
The alt-country–leaning track, full of twangy guitars and Kirke’s breathy vocals, is a declaration of wanting to fit into the world. “I’m not a monster,” she sings in the chorus. “I’m just someone who wants to belong.” The subject matter evolved naturally from feelings she had about a friend of hers.
“I wrote ‘Monster’ while I was watching someone I love struggle with self-love and care, but in the process of writing it, I realized that I hadn’t exactly mastered the delicate balance of those things either,” Kirke tells Rolling Stone. “So instead of the message being like, ‘I can help you ’cause I know what you should do,’ it became, ‘I’m not sure I can’t help you but I’m like you too.'”
She shot the video in Japan with first-time director Liz Koe, who works with Kirke on her day job. “After we found out we were shooting in Japan this summer, Liz, who’s a writer on the show approached me and was like, ‘We have to make a music video for you there,’ and I was like, ‘Cool, but when?’ – ’cause our shooting schedule was so nuts – and she was like, ‘At night,'” she recalls. “So we shot Mozart by day and ‘Monster’ by night.”
Kirke plans on releasing her as-yet-untitled album sometime this year. Starting in June, she will tour as the opening act for Australian band Middle Kids.
Lola Kirke Tour Dates (With Middle Kids)
June 5th – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
June 7th – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
June 8th – Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom – Pike Room
June 9th – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
June 10th – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar
June 12th – St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
June 13th – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
June 15th – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
June 18th – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House Music Hall
June 19th – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory
June 21st – Houston, TX @ Walter’s Downtown
June 22nd – Austin, TX @ Antone’s Nightclub
June 23rd – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
June 26th – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
June 27th – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
June 29th – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
June 30th – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
