Exclusive: Julia Shapiro Shares Surreal New Song and Video, “Shape”

The Australian Outback is one of those few locations on Earth that is somehow both vibrant and muted; it can be dreary and desolate, while still so effervescent that you can almost forget you’re entirely isolated, surrounded only by the sparse wildlife and your thoughts.

Fitting, then, that Chastity Belt’s Julia Shapiro chose to set the video for her blurry new single “Shape” there. The song, premiering here at Paste, comes from Shapiro’s forthcoming solo debut Perfect Version, due out June 14 via Hardly Art.

“Shape” is an illusory song, keeping its muddied bass and guitars just out of grasp. Shapiro’s vocals are similarly like a mirage, a siren beckoning you on your endless journey, as she sings detached lyrics yearning for connection: “And in my dream / things were just as they seemed / we were on the phone / and your thoughts were my own.”

The video makes Shapiro’s trip through the Outback feel like a fever dream. Shapiro explains that she “took this footage on a two-week tour through the Outback, driving all the way from Melbourne to Darwin with my friend Darren Hanlon.” It’s hazily edited, moving from one deserted mesa to another, interspersing sunsets and flocks of birds with uncannily long crossfades between shots.

In tow with the video comes a handful of North American tour dates; check them out beneath the video for “Shape.” Perfect Version is out June 14 via Hardly Art—you can read more about the album here and preorder it here.

Julia Shapiro Tour Dates:

June
01 – Seattle, Wash. @ Inscape Arts Bash
27 – Seattle, Wash. @ Barboza ^

July
22 – Washington, D.C. @ Songbyrd *
28 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Union Pool

(^ – Record Release Show)
(* – w/ Darren Hanlon)