Martin Courtney is breaking out from the confines of the critically acclaimed rock band Real Estate to drop his solo album, Many Moons, and share the music video for "Northern Highway."
Rob Hatch-Miller and Puloma Basu directed the simple music video, which was shot in upstate New York, according to Pitchfork. Courtney is seen playing in various places in the state (standing by a northern highway of sorts) rocking a white plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves and blue jeans for a deceptively boring music video. It's deceptive because, despite its simplicity, the imagery of the video really sets up the whole mood of the album, mirroring the long floral hiking trail featured on the album cover with shots of railroad crossings, small waterways and towns along the road that seem largely forgotten.
"Do you feel just like a stranger/ do you feel just like a shell?" Courtney sings on the new single evoking those same messages of loneliness seen in the music video. The not so uplifting lyrics come packaged in a song filled with bright guitars and minimal drums for a sound very familiar to Real Estate fans.
Courtney isn't the first band member to explore music with other groups. Guitarist Matt Mondanile plays in Ducktails and bassist Alex Bleeker goes off to make records with his group The Freaks.
Real Estate really started to gain traction last year with the release of Atlas, the group's third studio album. The soft sounds and bright guitars provide a relaxing soundtrack to sit back and groove to for a while. Atlas reached to No. 34 on the Billboard albums chart and the 2011 album Days reached No. 52.
Many Moons is set for an Oct. 30 release date on Domino. Watch the "Northern Highway" music video below. You can also listen to the previously released single "Vestiges" via Soundcloud.
