“Lying in a kiddy pool full of cold milk was the most challenging part of the production for me,” laughs Queen Kwong (a.k.a. Carré Kwong Callaway) about filming her new video for the single “No Rules.” “Compared to things I’ve endured in previous videos, it was a cakewalk and the video turned out exactly the way I was hoping.”
Taken from her overwhelmingly critically-hailed album Couples Only, “No Rules” is a sultry and propulsive track that finds Carré defiantly taking control of her own desires, singing “Now, I see you turning from me / You best turn back around / It’s time to face your demons / Look me in the eye and don’t make a sound.”
“I wanted my next video to be for ‘No Rules’ because the track stands out from most of the other songs on Couples Only, both thematically and sonically,” she explains, pointing out the album’s main themes of overcoming betrayal and ultimately rising above it all.
Noting its distinct departure from the videos that previously been released from this album, which includes an homage to the classic horror film Possession (“I Know Who You Are”), a tribute Harvey Keitel’s groundbreaking film Bad Lieutenant (“Sad Man” starring Johnny Knoxville), French New Wave (“Without You, Whatever”) and the sendup to cheesy reality TV with a murderous twist (“On The Run”), the video for “No Rules” sees Carré taking a more surrealistic and impressionistic approach with help from award-winning photographer/director Tamar Levine (It’s Okay, Twenty-Two Date Palm Way). “Tamar and I have been good friends for decades and have done many photo shoots together but this is our first video,” she explains of the collaboration. “We were inspired by surrealistic concepts, dada, collage, etc. This is the first time I’ve done anything with a green screen but the falling sequence is my favorite part of the video..”
Adds Tamar, “I wanted the experience to feel like a push and pull between Carré holding the power of the person she’s singing to, putting them under a sort of spell, and then at the same time having a self-awareness of not being fully in control of that power.”
TOUR DATES
Sep 15 at Green Door Store, Brighton, UK w/ Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Ladylike
Oct 13 - The Majestic Theater, Ventura, CA w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols
Oct 14 - The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols
Oct 15 - The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols
Oct 17 - Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols
Oct 18 - Roseland Theater, Portland, OR w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols
Oct 19 - Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, BC w/ The Black Angels & The Dandy Warhols