Surrealist indie star John Grant has written plenty of songs about love and its various meanings and purposes throughout his career. But few of them ring as true as the title track of his upcoming album, “Love Is Magic.” It’s a song that acknowledges just how rage-inducing, and yet somehow still beautiful, the feeling can be.
Now, Grant has visualized the message for his song with a brand new music video, premiering on Billboard today (Aug. 7). While the singer himself does not appear in the video, he makes up for his absence through the presence of a number of extremely well-trained dogs. The good boys and girls show off their tricks and stunts they can do with their owners throughout the whole video, while Grant’s haunting electronic voice hovers above, singing about love.
In a statement to Billboard, Grant succinctly sums up why he decided to use this very specific vision for his video. “Fanny’s [the video’s director] video is a beautiful snapshot of unconditional love,” he says. “But obviously, there is still a lot of work involved. At least on the dog’s part.”
The singer’s upcoming album Love Is Magic, out Oct. 12, aims to complete the transition he started on his 2015 album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure by making a record almost entirely of various kinds of electronic music, which is evidenced in the titular song and its video.
Grant has made waves over the past few years as a fresh, uniquely queer voice in the music industry. His song “Snug Slacks,” a sexy, strange dance number about an older and younger man hooking up, was hailed as one of Pitchfork’s “50 Songs That Define The Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride.”
Check out the full video for Grant’s “Love Is Magic” below, along with the singer’s upcoming tour dates.
08/16 – Birmingham, UK – Symphony Hall
08/18 – Wales, UK – Green Man Festival
08/19 – Belfast, UK – Open House Festival
08/20 – Edinburgh, UK – Edinburgh International Festival
10/26 – Reykjavik, IS – Silfurberg
10/29 – Brighton, UK – Brighton Dome
10/30 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton
10/31 – Bath, UK – The Forum
11/02 – Sheffield, UK – Octagon Centre
11/03 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall, Manchester **SOLD OUT**
11/07 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
11/08 – Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene
11/09 – Wangels, DE – Rolling Stone Weekender
11/10 – Wangels, DE – Rolling Stone Weekender
11/12 – Koln, DE – Kulturkirche
11/13 – Hamburg, DE – Kampnagel
11/14 – Berlin, DE – Astra Kulturhaus
11/16 – Rust, DE – Rolling Stone Park
11/17 – Rust, DE – Rolling Stone Park
11/30 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
12/02 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
12/03 – Montreal, QC – Fairmont Theatre
12/05 – Detroit, MI – El Club
12/06 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
12/08 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
12/09 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
12/11 – Denver, CO – Bluebird
12/12 – Salt Lake City, UT – State Room
12/14 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
12/15 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst – Atrium
12/16 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
12/18 – Seattle, WA – Columbia City Theatre
12/19 – Portland, OR – Star Theater
12/20 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial Vancouver