Between his “feud” with The Black Keys and recent comments about ex-wife and former White Stripes bandmate Meg White, it seems that Jack White’s media attention has attempted to overshadow his highly-anticipated album release.
That feeling of destruction is mirrored in the video for “Lazaretto” the title track for the Detroit rocker’s upcoming sophomore solo LP, but instead of burning bridges, White’s breaking glass. The clip takes the now relatively minimalist intensity of earlier videos like “Seven Nation Army” and whips things into a frenzy.
Unlike in the Elephant era, when a brute animal force was often implied, here the beast is real – and that’s not just the wild cattle that’s let loose at the end. Jack White himself goes for broke, proving his unparalleled capacity for showmanship. Unhinged and untamed as he shreds his guitar, White’s only worthy competitor is his own shadow, which gets a chance to show off its chops on a frantic solo.
“Lazaretto” already had swagger in droves; now, with this video accompaniment, the song takes on a madhouse quality: White is dressed in an ornately patterned suit befitting Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, there’s a space-age television broadcasting scrambled white (crow)bars, a souped-up hot rod careens wildly from a deserted road onto the soundstage, while the camera whirls like a dervish. Shot in moody black-and-white by directors Jonas & Francois, the video evokes the ‘60s, were it not for the inked-up man who sports a tattoo of the album’s cover on his chest.
As the June 10 release date of Lazaretto approaches, there’s little doubt that this is the kind of bull White would like fans to see, rather than the other kind that’s been circling around.
Watch the video for “Lazaretto” below: