Digital Escort – “Windshield”
Digital Escort – “Windshield” – Single Review
These devilishly delightful minstrels of musical mayhem!
Digital Escort has played this new single of theirs completely correctly. Making music is best approached from multiple angles in this world we’re living in now…we’ve turned a full 180-degrees from where The Buggles feared and predicted we’d get to. Instead of video killing the radio star, a great video can totally make your music get heard in this bizarre modern-era of Tiks & Toks…our attention spans can still be way too divided, but a multifaceted attack and the use of a couple of mediums can really work out to your advantage if you play your cards right. Of course, as musicians, you still want the song to be what people remember most from the experience, but really, in the case of a great video, or having your music placed in some kind of soundtrack…I dunno…I figure as long as people recognize that you were an essential part of what contributed to making something memorable, then that should be enough, right?
In the particular case of “Windshield,” I have a couple of advantages over some of you out there. One, I know very well just how twisted Digital Escort can be, and I’ve already professed my love for their brand of weirdness throughout the years of reviewing their music here on our pages many times. Two, I’ve seen just about every Horror movie under the sun, and even more under the cover of darkness. So believe me…when the video for “Windshield” started up, I felt like I knew exactly where this was going to go, and was enormously satisfied by the fact that Digital Escort so willingly went there. Think along the lines of something like…Pat Benetar’s “Physical” video shoot going about as tragically wrong as you could possibly conceive, and you’d end up somewhere close to what you’ll find in the visuals for this new single from DE. I say close, because you honestly probably won’t think that “Windshield” will get as bloody and violent as it does – but that’s exactly what makes it work so well – they didn’t hold anything back. Director Daniel J. Pico deserves a massive amount of credit for delivering this malevolent GEM to us onscreen…this video is so damn good that I’d be trying to lock this dude into a contract for the next ten videos that Digital Escort wants to make – the pairing between them is frighteningly cohesive. Every so often, you run into a collaboration that just makes sense…and this is a perfect example of that. It works vice versa as well – Pico has already made multiple movies and short films throughout his career, but for his next full-length movie one day, I’d definitely want Digital Escort to be the band supplying the soundtrack. Respect the game y’all – DE went BIG in securing a pro like Pico to lend his time and talents to “Windshield,” and from what I see & hear with my own eyes & ears, it completely & totally paid off.
I’m all about it really. I love the old-school VHS look that the video has, I love the demonic possession storyline they’ve got there, I feel like the music works perfectly with the idea, and Pico has really found clever ways to film the violence you’ll see. It’s all like…you know…something that would have fit right into American Horror Story 1984…or some kind of Suzanne Somers workout video that went off the rails – we’re talkin’ spandex, bright colors, dated outfits, headbands, BIG HAIR…that kind of thing – in addition to a whole lot of the mischief & mayhem we’ve come to typically associate with something from Digital Escort. They’re a band that has a whole lot of opportunity to do great things with crossover media like videos and social media postings and whatnot…the more that they go on to lean into that part of their identity, the further it’ll carry them. “Windshield” is the proof in full color and Dolby sound.
As far as the song itself goes…this is a cut that’s probably gonna sit somewhere in the top quarter of their catalog to-date…I’m happy with what I hear in this single. The band already knows full-well that if I feel like they’ve missed the mark, I’m that guy on the internet that’s willing to tell’em…but when it comes to “Windshield,” I don’t think they’ve overlooked anything at all here. Their existing clients will be very pleased by what they hear every bit as much as what they see, I can pretty much guarantee it. They’re leaning real hard into the synths on this particular track, but again, that’s something that works brilliantly in tandem with the video they’ve got supporting the song. The guitars have serious bite, the vocals are on-point…it’s got some of that Pretty Hate Machine type of energy to it, while still sounding a bit more designed to make an impact on a commercial level too, without compromising who they are. I freakin’ LOVE the guitar solo and how unpredictable it is…I also LOVE how it also marks the spot in the video where everything starts to head in the direction you’ve been assuming it was going all along…and I gotta hand it to Digital Escort – I think the breakdown they’ve got in this song is one of the finest parts they’ve put into any song I’ve heard from them so far. As far as the main hooks go…they work, they’re effective, and they’re memorable – you can’t ask for more than that. They seem to have everything in its right place from sight to sound on “Windshield” and I am fully confident that the collaborative effort they’ve put forth here on this new single & video will lead this track to becoming a fan favorite for sure.
Find out more about Digital Escort from this official multilink here: https://linktr.ee/digitalescortband
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