Garage-punk raconteur Ron Gallo has shared the second single from his forthcoming album Stardust Birthday Party, due out October. 5th via New West. “Always Elsewhere” is an oddball odyssey of self-discovery: “Talking, talking / Never listening,” Gallo sings over post-punk guitar chromatics.”Always elsewhere / searching, searching.” In the song’s bridge, he launches into a verbose, new-age spiritual tirade, proclaiming that the meaning of life “is just to be alive.”
The songs on Stardust Birthday Party emerged from a period of soul-searching for Gallo. He describes the album as a “spiritual 180” from his wonderful debut album, Heavy Meta. In early 2018, following the hectic dissolution of a relationship, he booked a trip to California for a silent meditation retreat, where he found a path towards inner enlightenment. The album “is about human evolution,” Gallo said. “Specifically, one humans evolution: mine, Ron Gallo … It’s me dancing while destroying the person I thought I was, and hopefully forever.”
The video for “Always Elsewhere” makes his journey of self-discovery literal. It revolves around Gallo walking across the country and through various surreal set-pieces with a box labeled “SELF,” and features the sort of artfully odd imagery one would expect from him.
Gallo will be touring in support of Stardust Birthday Party for the rest of the year.
From the new album ‘Stardust Birthday Party,’ available October 5th.