Photo by Raf Fellner
Alex Cameron is at his best when he's crafting despicable but complex characters, bringing you inside their psyches and forcing you to sympathize with them — at least a little. His new song, "Sara Jo," picks up today where he left off in 2019 on his latest album, Miami Memory. Here, he plays a disaffected, rudderless family man who "thinks they used to be an idiot — but aren't anymore," according to a statement he made about the song.
"I never hurt nobody, not in any physical way / And when I do, they will have wanted it that way," he opens over a very '80s instrumental that would sit more comfortably on 2017's Forced Witness than on Miami Memory, produced and recorded by Cameron and mixed by Mount Kimbie's Kai Campos. Cameron co-wrote the song with longtime lead guitarist, Justin Nijssen.
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In the new track's immaculately produced music video — directed by Cameron, shot by Raf Fellner, and edited by William Martin — Cameron dances on a rocky beach in a suit and a Speedo (alternately), rides in a boat with heavy makeup on, floats on his back, and gets a David Bowie haircut.
"Who pulled the curtains? / Who broke the screen?" Cameron wonders on Sara Jo's chorus. "Who told my brother that his kids are gonna die from this vaccine? / Who told my mother that she's never gonna find no love, nobody? / Who told my father that he doesn't have to pay for counseling?"
Read Cameron's full statement on the song, and view his 2022 European tour dates, below.
Man, I used to be such an idiot. I still am an idiot, but I used to be one too. That’s the template of a Mitch Hedberg joke. The sentiment orbits around me constantly. Judgement in retrospect. Evolving identities that change just as much as they stay the same. I can even hate thoughts I’ve had and decisions I’ve made in the past. Cringe at the old me. Oblivious to how I’ll view this enlightened version of myself in hindsight. Cause man, I used to be such an idiot. Good thing I’ve improved since then. I put in the work. I listened. I learned. I’m malleable like that. Good for me. Those awful thoughts are no longer mine. Most likely they never were. Most likely they were learned and fumbled into a shape I could express like some genetic inheritance of a stupid idea — passed down from one idiot to the next. At my best I can convert my stupidity into wisdom. At my worst I hate it, and it’s useless, my short memory means I can’t even locate its origin. All I know is I hate the dumb fuck that convinced me of it. And so if I can hate the things I used to do, the ideas I used to spill confidently that should have been muttered regretfully then it makes sense that I can hate others for the things they do, and especially for the ideas they might have or have repeated. Cherished totems of dumb contemplation. The inextinguishable torch of bad ideas that will forever flicker as it’s exchanged between proud human hosts. What’s worse than an idiot? Someone who thinks they used to be an idiot - but aren’t anymore. In a clear moment I see it in myself. I’ll say things like ‘I can’t believe people think that’s true.’ Or ‘these fucken idiots.’ You can watch me do it. Watch me distance myself from ideas and actions that I find don’t align. I might have used to think a thing was true, or right, or just - but that was someone else’s idea. That was an idiot’s musing. I was the victim of dumb charm. And the perpetrator is to blame. If I could only remember who that idiot was. And so we have ‘Sara Jo’ — a search for the person responsible for all bad ideas. Cause it sure as hell isn’t me.
Alex Cameron 2022 European tour dates
3/19 - Tivoli (Pandora) - Utrecht, NL
3/21 - La Cigale - Paris, FR
3/22 - La Cartonnerie - Reims, FR
3/23 - L’Epicerie Moderne - Lyon, FR
3/24 - Bogen F - Zurich, CH
3/26 - Covo Club - Bologna, IT
3/28 - UT Connewitz - Leipzig, DE
3/29 - Festsaal Kreuzberg - Berlin, DE
3/31 - Hydrozagadka - Warsaw, PL
4/2 - Studio 2 - Copenhagen, DK
4/3 - Pustervik - Goteborg, SE
4/4 - Berns - Stockholm, SE
4/5 - Cosmopolite - Oslo, NE
4/7 - Molotow - Hamburg, DE
4/8 - Botanique (Orangerie) - Brussels, BE
4/10 - Rescue Rooms - Nottingham, UK
4/11 - St. Luke’s - Glasgow, UK
4/13 - NUSU - Newcastle, UK
4/14 - Gorilla - Manchester, UK
4/16 - Grand Social - Dublin, IE - SOLD OUT
4/17 - Grand Social - Dublin, IE
4/19 - Trinity - Bristol, UK
4/20 - Concorde 2 - Brighton, UK
4/22 - EartH - London, UK
6/5 - Primavera a la Ciutat (Razzmatazz 2) - Barcelona, ES
6/9 - Primavera Sound - Barcelona, ES
