The Contortionist Debut New Song + Video, “Return to Earth”

The Contortionist have always been one of those bands whose work is part music, part puzzle piece. By which I mean, everything — the music, the lyrics, the album art, etc. — all tie into one concept, the full meaning of which may not be entirely clear until you’ve closely examined all the separate elements as a collective piece of art. I mean, you can just listen to their music and appreciate it that way, but if you want to take a deep dive down the rabbit hole, that option is available to you, and chances are, you’ll find the experience rewarding.

So it’s no surprise that the band’s new single and video, “Return to Earth,” isn’t just a characteristically alluring bit of poetic prog or a beautifully-shot promotional clip, but is also part of a much larger intertextual tapestry. From the official press release:

“When making the ‘Return to Earth’ video we wanted to make sure it was cohesive in concept with ‘Reimagined,’” says vocalist Michael Lessard. Directed by Erez Bader and produced by Lessard himself, the video is the band’s second from their forthcoming LP due out in mid September.

“We made sure we took our time with the process. This video picks up where ‘Reimagined’ left off, and can actually be played in succession with it. We couldn’t be more pleased with the continuity and end result!”

So, again: you can enjoy this just as its own individual thing… but if you’re willing to put a little extra work into it, you can also enjoy this on a much, much deeper level.

Check out “Return to Earth” — the song and the video — below, courtesy of Prog Magazine. The song will appear on The Contortionist’s new album, Clairvoyant, which comes out September 15 on Good Fight. You can pre-order it here. The band hits the road with BTBAM a week later! Get dates here.