Sophie Lloyd has unveiled the new video for Do Or Die, her latest single featuring Nathan James of Inglorious on vocals, which is taken from her forthcoming album, Imposter Syndrome, a record you can expect some time in 2023.
Tune into the video below for fire, both the electric guitar kind, as Lloyd puts a carved-top Kiesel C6 through its paces, and the real kind, as a full-time fire artist named Lula goes all out with a pyro display that even from the prophylactic distance of a YouTube video is liable to cause panic in the smoke alarm.
That, we suppose, is the point. It certainly gives new meaning to the term flame maple, but let’s not flog the metaphor. Lloyd’s latest Kiesel has a quilted maple top, which looks generously thick, and features a gradient burst from purple in the lower bout to punk at the cutaways.
As you might notice from the video, once your retinas have adjusted to a mise-en-scène reminiscent of Ron Howard’s Backdraft, Lloyd's Kiesel Crescent has natural wood binding. A nice touch.
Anyway, the video. The shoot was directed by Matt Daley of Clearway Media at the comprehensively insured Birmingham Film Studios, and is a showcase for Lloyd’s prodigious chops and Lula’s unsuitability for children’s parties. Both have recently been on tour with Machine Gun Kelly – Lloyd on guitar, Lula on fire – and they clearly found in one another a creative kinship.
“Working with Lula was amazing, she is such a talented performer, and takes her craft so seriously and is so dedicated,” said Lloyd. “We’ve become such great friends and I’m so excited to see what she’s doing next.”
Setting off the smoke alarm, probably. As for Lloyd, she is gearing up for her first release since 2019’s Bulletproof Revolver, and her first to be written with vocals.
The project has been a long time coming, with Lloyd first working on it back during the first lockdown. Much like what Slash did when he spun his Rolodex and corralled a host of famous lungs into the studio for his solo album, Lloyd has put together a choice list of vocalists for the record.
James will be joined by the likes of Trivium’s Matt Heafy, Atreyu’s Brandon Saller, the shy and retiring Michael Star of Steel Panther, and more.
“All my music before was instrumental, so this is a very special release for me as it includes vocals, and some of the people we’ve worked with are people I used to have as posters on my wall as a kid, so it feels very full circle,” said Lloyd. “It’s something that I have been working on before the first lockdown, and to be here talking about it feels amazing!”
Imposter Syndrome was produced by Romesh Dodangoda (BMTH, Nova Twins). Release date, TBC. Do Or Die is streaming on all the usual platforms. Keep up with Sophie Lloyd news over at her website, on the official Sophie Lloyd YouTube channel, or on Instagram.
