Exclusive Video Premiere: ‘I’m In Love,’ Fool’s Gold

ABOVE: FOOL’S GOLD.

Bands are generally quite fluid in nature, often changing their music, members, and even language spoken or sung. A good example of this is Fool’s Gold, a group that began in 2007 as a meager duo through Luke Top (vocals/bass) and Lewis Pesacov’s (lead guitar) shared veneration of Ethiopian and Congolese music and  mutual love for 1980s dance beats. In 2009, the proper formation of Fool’s Gold, which at one point included 15 members, led to the release of an eponymous debut album that was sung in Hebrew thanks to Top’s Israeli nationality. A wave of popularity and series of tours later, Fool’s Gold released their second LP, Leave No Trace, in 2011 with lyrics in English and the band whittled down to a close-knit group of five.

Now, the same group of five is preparing to release Flying Lessons (ORG Music), which will drop April 18 on orange-colored vinyl in honor of Record Store Day (digital and CD versions will be available May 19). While there has previously been an inevitable change from one body of work to the next, this time Fool’s Gold kept the music relatively consistent.  “The hope is that we took things a few steps further and became better songwriters, producers, and performers,” says Top.

The album’s debut single, “I’m In Love,” features many of the elements that made us fall for them in the first place: Top’s Morrissey-esque voice, the band’s whimsical percussion, and their ability to combine a bundle of instruments and sounds into one solid, upbeat unit. While the song’s title is a reference to a meek “boy-meets-girl” romance, it stands in contrast to the song’s depth. “The meat of the song talks about being obsessed with a false idol in youth,” explains Top. “For me, there were a few people in my past that seemed larger than life, and even though that fantasy unraveled over the years, there is still a ‘love’ to be had for them.”

In addition to announcing Flying Lessons, we are also pleased to premiere the video for “I’m In Love,” which features elaborate stop motion techniques from New York-based director Sally Tran. Each animation was done by hand, and Tran also directed the live-action footage of the band over video chat while they were in L.A. Although many of the cutouts were taken directly from sketches the band drew in the recording studio (they were inspired by caricatures of one another and characters from their songs), the imagery, according to Top, actually represents “a naïve, psychedelic magnification of youth.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FOOL’S GOLD, VISIT THE BAND’S WEBSITE OR FACEBOOK. TO PRE-ORDER FLYING LESSONS, CLICK HERE.