…I got a thing for, BIRTHMARK Rodney
BIRTHMARK Rodney is available on Birth of Omni, Polyvinyl Records, Apple Music
by Walter Price
Does having a happy family stop one from falling in love or perhaps developing an infatuation? Uh, of course not. We humans are wild animals and Mother Nature can pull us into all sorts of difficult if not lusty types of situations. And the recent Birthmark (Nate Kinsella) single “Rodney” explores these humanistic experiences.
As it turns out, the narrator has fallen for a work colleague, another gentleman, making his current family man and doting father role much more complicated. No doubt. Kinsella fondly sings, “See my beautiful wife/ In my beautiful house/ These are my beautiful children/ No, I can’t sneak out/ Can I shake your hand?/ Make you laugh out loud?/ I want to be with you/ No one can ever find out.” Ah, forbidden love, if you will, can be a potent and complex thrill ride.
To add some levity to the tangled situation, the surreal suburban music video, co-directed by Kinsella and Ben Wietmarschen, is quite the experience. Pops is watering the yard, and his kids and wife are frolicking about as he fantasizes about what could happen if he gave in to his workplace desire for the silhouetted Rodney. Beautifully done.
“Rodney” is from Birthmark’s celebrated dad album ‘Birth of Omni’ and you can stream it in full as well as witness the gorgeous music video for the single, here at the GTC.
BIRTHMARK Rodney
Artist photo and bio quote via Polyvinyl Records// Album artwork via Bandcamp
Rodney: written and performed by Nate Kinsella
w/ Kristina Dutton – Violin
Chris McQueen – Guitar
Arone Dyer/Craig Wedren – Voice
Directed by Ben Wietmarschen & Nate Kinsella
Written by Nate Kinsella
Starring: Nate Kinsella, Emilea Wilson, Chuck Maa
Director Of Photography & Editor: Ryan Bender
Producer: Saeed Chabayta
Production Designer: Caitlin Nunes
“Birth of Omni began in the dark. Five years ago, when Nate Kinsella began writing his fifth album under the name Birthmark, his world, like that of so many others, felt upside down. This was early 2018, a year into the Trump presidency and amid the ubiquitous American fever of mass shootings and racist violence. Just months earlier, the dawning revelations of the MeToo movement had jolted him, ending his naivete and giving him insight into how the women in his life often saw the men in theirs. Nearing 40, he was finally a father, too, with a newborn daughter and another on the way. Into what kind of world, he sensibly wondered, was he bringing these kids? Early songs wallowed in this anxious question, the dim start of what he thought might be a not-especially-uplifting EP.” – bio