Exclusive: Steve Marino Shares Tender Video for Album Title Track “Fluff”

Bloomington singer/songwriter Steve Marino has shared the video for the title track of his new album Fluff, out on May 24 via Darling Recordings. Marino has recorded several solo albums under the name Moor Hound and toured with various bands (Bugg, Jacky Boy, Rodeo Ruby Love), but his new album Fluff is the first under his own name.

Musically, “Fluff” is melodic and intentional, but the deep-rooted emotions that underpin the song feel like a primal gut-punch that couldn’t have been artificially manufactured. The lush guitars and Marino’s candid vocals possess a suburban warmth and epitomize the gaping hole that festers in the absence of a loved one.

Marino says of the song, ”’Fluff’ is about an ex’s dog kind of sung from the dog’s perspective. She was involved in a fight with another dog and ended up biting my ex’s arm, which resulted in a hospital visit. I didn’t initially expect there to be drums on this one but when Ben [Lumsdaine] started playing around on it, it just came together.”

The song’s accompanying video was directed by Zac Canale, and it was shot by a camera mounted on his dog, Rusty. Canale explains the painstaking process of making the video: “I needed specific shots that I had in mind. You can control the camera from your phone and then he would move. It just added an extra element. It was just a pain in the ass, really.”

According to a press release, Fluff “is an album about home and one’s place in it, love, and intimacy, and it’s the result of Steve marrying his direct, honest songwriting with a deeply collaborative process.” The record was produced by fellow Bloomington, Ind., resident Ben Lumsdaine (Kevin Krauter, Major Murphy) and will be the first vinyl release for Darling Recordings.

Watch the video for “Fluff” below and revisit Moor Hound’s 2014 Daytrotter Session further down. You can preorder Fluff here.