New York, NY (Top40 Charts) BEST EX (formerly Candy Hearts) are pleased to reveal the video for 'Jellyfish', the latest track to be taken from their Alcopop! Records released debut EP Ice
Cream Anti-Social, out now and available to purchase from: www.BestExNJ.com
Shot over a period of a few months, the video is a candid and charming look behind the scenes at Best Ex (aka Mariel Loveland)'s friendship with her pet cat Millie.
On the concept, Loveland explained: "I really wanted to make a video that captured a day in the life of my cat, but she's sort of camera shy! Anytime a camera comes out she runs away or stops showing off. My baby spends most of her time pushing me away when I try to pet her, biting me when I annoy her, and swinging from my bedroom's curtains despite the fact I constantly tell her stop because she's ripping holes in them. She even yells at me to refill the sinks around the house because she refuses to drink from her fancy water dish, but every so often, she lets me get a really good snuggle. I think the way she loves me goes along perfectly with the song's lyrics. And also, she's the cutest cat in the world, but I'm sort of biased."
With support for her new project steadily growing at
Total Guitar, Alternative Press, Billboard, Kerrang! Magazine, UPSET, Punktastic, DIY Magazine and more, Best Ex will be returning to the UK for further live dates later this year.
Ice
Cream Anti Social is out now via Alcopop! Records
Best Ex online:
https://www.bestexnj.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bestexnj
https://twitter.com/CandyHeartsBand
https://www.instagram.com/bestexnj
https://www.youtube.com/user/candyheartsband
The Ice
Cream Anti-Social six-track EP is the first to be released under the band's new moniker and new indie/pop-leaning direction, with a lengthy US tour from 25th June to 21st July alongside The Promise of Redemption (ex-Valencia), Daisyhead (No Sleep Records), Baggage (ex-Swellers), and June Divided.
Written in an introspective kick after seeing her friend's band play a great show, making her think of the struggle they'd all been through to make something of themselves, singer-songwriter Mariel Loveland called the song "a sort of anthem to the most insecure parts of myself -- the parts that felt like the best I could do was never really good enough."
The chorus of "someday we're gonna get it / someday we're gonna get it right", with the group vocals, harmonies, and upbeat synths surging and swirling, makes this an anthem for anyone working on getting through all the frustrations of life, and does so with the perfect mix of lo-fi grit and polished glitter. Demonstrating open-book lyricism coupled with dance arrangements, Best Ex is very much a reflection of Mariel's coming into her own as both a person and musician.
Speaking about the new EP, Mariel says: "Ice
Cream Anti Social is sort of an ode to those moments where you're alone in your room and reflecting on your life. As a whole, it covers those sort of thoughts you can't kick when you're lying in bed about to fall asleep, or it's midnight and you're in your underwear, eating ice cream out of the carton, wondering what the heck happened to you.
"It wavers between that fine line where you aren't sure if you're actually killing it or a total mess. I don't know if this is a true fact about life or anything -- I'm sure those older than me will disagree -- but this EP was largely about coming to terms with the fact that no matter how many people are around you, you will always be sort of alone."
Ice
Cream Anti-Social is a glistening artistic re-imagination for Mariel, who has taken the heartfelt lyricism and hooks from her previous punk leaning work and brought them into looser, poppier arrangements. 'Girlfriend', the first single released under Best Ex, was called a "synthpop jam" and "DIY pop charmer" by Billboard (where it premiered last month) and Substream said "the name change comes with a new sound that is downright impossible to resist."
Songs like 'February 4th' and 'See You Again' retain some of the more guitar-involved sound of past work, with the former a softer, string-backed ballad and the latter combining the more electronic-leaning sound of Best Ex with some of the rock influence that many associate with Mariel. The EP-closing track 'Jellyfish' fittingly features just Mariel singing over a ukelele, bringing a record that explores a lot of sound and emotion to a close with the most intimate spotlight on the words and music of the songwriter at the heart of it all.
