Delune Will Be Your Next Music Obsession
Florence and the Machine fans, you're going to love this new music duo who go by the name Delune. Composed of sisters Kate and Izzi Eberstadt, Delune has been gaining steam for a few months now. Both sisters graduated from Columbia University and have family roots firmly planted in New York's avant-garde arts scene, with relatives connected to Andy Warhol and Joan Didion. Last year they dropped their single “Those Days,” which Sound Digest described as a “melancholy dance number,” and their latest song, “Joker,” builds on a similar aesthetic.
Watch the video, below, and you'll notice the sisters playing around with clown makeup. That's all part of the mood for their upcoming album, Pierrot, out in 2021, which pays homage to the sad-clown character in commedia dell'arte, described in a press email as “the fool in love who breaks the fourth wall; constantly trapped in a cycle of falling in love, getting his heart broken, and repeating the cycle.” (As you'll see, though, the makeup particularly in the “Joker” video has a deeper, more poignant meaning.)
This crying-in-the-club vibe is very popular right now in music, and Delune's here to provide even more emotional escapism. Watch the video, below, and check out our Q&A with the sisters afterward.
What is the inspiration behind the video “Joker”?
Delune: “Joker” is about reclaiming autonomy after a manipulative relationship. Our director, Katharine White, thought of the paint as a fitting metaphor for marks left on us by those we love, and turning pain into beauty. Our bond as sisters transcends the narrative. With a sense of humor, we turn to each other, reminding ourselves that we’re not alone. At first we are the canvas, and over the course of the video, we become the painters. Fun fact: We shot this at home in quarantine on an iPhone with a one-man crew, while our producer and Katharine zoomed in from L.A.
What artists or musicians inspire you the most and why?
Izzi: I’m inspired by artists who share their vulnerability to elucidate the humanity in all of us; I’m thinking of Frank Ocean, Beethoven, Sia, Lin-Manuel Miranda, etc. I’m also inspired by the artists who try and reach beyond humanity to show us the divine. Architecture is a huge source of inspiration for my work. So are my nearest and dearest: family, friends, and my fiancé.
Kate: Artists, professional and otherwise, in my daily life: friends, family, my partner, our manager, my community. Kids are inspiring because they’re so uninhibited. Avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson was my mentor, and watching his work process was formative. Also, I love Miley Cyrus. And I don’t know if I love Lin Manuel, want to be him, or punch him, or all the above.
What role do you think music and art should play in 2020?
Delune: We hope music and art can provide common ground at a time when people are very divided. In our experience working with communities all over the world—be it in a refugee camp in Berlin, in Rikers Island [jail complex in NYC], or in a theater in Kazakhstan—we’ve found art to be one of the most powerful unifiers there is. It shows us that we’re not so different from one another.
What do you hope the music industry looks like in 10 years?
Delune: We want to see a world in which we all choose to lead with love rather than fear. Right now people are looking to leaders and systems for change when the most powerful agent for change in your life is, ultimately, yourself. What would happen if we each looked right in front of us and saw how we could help? We can choose on a daily basis to extend others the benefit of the doubt, to treat our earth with respect, to see humanity in others, to act with love rather than fear. The work begins on an individual level, and that’s where we, Delune, are starting.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
