Saint John’s folky duo Tomato/Tomato are continuing their series of self-produced live-off-the-floor videos from their own Porchlight Studios. This time they’ve taking on the 1985 hit from A-ha, “Take On Me.“
“Honestly, we have always found that song extremely compelling,” says Tomato Lisa Mclaggan. “We’ve been trying to make it work for us for years! It all kept coming back to that half time section at the end of the chorus. So killer!”
Of course, rather than being drawn to the original’s award-winning illustrated music video, the hard core music majors got into it over the song’s more technical aspects: “The interesting rhythm and phrasing of the verses, the ascending melody and wide range of the chorus, and all the potential for juicy harmony.”
Naturally, Tomato/Tomato‘s version offers a much more mellowed take on the song, with the duo going for a subdued folkier vibe. Where they’ve stripped away all of the song’s poppy synths they’ve put their own spin on it with John Mclaggan working overtime to manage those harmonies.
Unfortunately Tomato/Tomato‘s music video didn’t contain an animated storyline, which isn’t to say the duo didn’t at least get a story out of it. To light the video, the band embraced something of a thematic backdrop, filling their studio with some commandeered lamps.
“A few belong to us – but 85% of them belong to our dear friends, Phillip and Alexandra Robinson. John had a vision – LAMPS,” says Lisa.
“So we called them up to see if they had any we could borrow. Turns out, Phillip and Alex really enjoy mood lighting. We filled the back of our Subaru and they were stuck with candles and flashlights for a night. There’s actually one from their baby’s nursery up on the wall that says “goodnight” on it. We literally took ALL of their lamps!”