Video Age Break Down All 11 Songs From Away From The Castle

You’ll never be able to really pin Video Age down. The New Orleans duo make immaculate pop-rock tunes and, yet, even that label feels incomplete. What Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli are doing together is a product of unmatched, unabashed chemistry. The vibes are sound and solid; the end results are even more outstanding. Away From The Castle, the follow-up to 2020’s Pleasure Line, spans a large continuum of tones and textures, making pit stops at disco, indie rock, jangle-pop and cosmic, glittering dance music.

Video Age seem to have it all figured out on this record, and I can’t stop returning to it, to be quite honest with you. Songs like the title track, “Just Think” and “Better Than Ever” remain in heavy rotation, and I hope they will for you shortly, too. I’m happy to be in the same lifetime as Video Age while they make music this good; I’m even more stoked that Farbe and Micarelli lent some of their words about Away From The Castle to Paste today. They’ve broken down the entire record track by track, so tune in and hear more about the backstories that make these songs tick, turn and shine.

“Ready To Stay”

This song started as a funny housewarming gift from Ray to Ross and Sarah. As with life, this song went through so many changes. There was the Graham Nash ‘60s version, Hall and Oates ‘70s, Diana Ross ‘80s, and finally the Elliott Smith ‘90s version. We think they all came together nicely.

“Better Than Ever”

We recorded the bed track for this at the cabin in Eunice, LA. It’s an ode to our songwriting partnership which we try hard not to take for granted.

“Away From The Castle”

This song started as a dark and heavy synth demo. Ross had a 4 AM epiphany to flip it on its head with new chords and jangling guitars. The next day we met up and feverishly made a new demo. Having heard the news that Tom Verlaine passed away the night before, we reminisced about our favorite Television songs. The harmonized guitar riff was definitely inspired by their sweeping harmonies.

“Adrian”

Adrian is a song about falling out of touch with a friend/mentor. It’s like a love letter, never sent. The piano at the end was off the cuff, Ray and Duncan were playing it at the same time and didn’t know the tape was rolling.

“In The Breaks”

Ross: A fishing trip with my dad had me thinking about my roots, where I come from and where I’m going. We recorded on my grandma’s childhood piano, which now lives in my studio. For those who are wondering, an “alligator gar” is a dinosaur-looking fish that you can find in just about any body of water around New Orleans.

“How Long’s Eternity?”

This is a song about loss, existentialism and the origin of the universe. Listen for our “muppet choir” singing along with the fuzz riff. We were shooting for Brian Eno’s Here Come the Warm Jets.

“Just Think”

We had never done a straight up american disco song, a-la “The Hustle.” So we had to check that box. Ironically, the song was inspired by Robin solo trekking around European discotheques.

“Anything For You”

This is a heartfelt tune about holding space for your buddies.

“A Knight Shining With No Armor”

We love a good reprise. David from TOPS said this song came on when he was stretching at the gym and it scared him.

“Is It Really Over?”

We were into the classic country song vibe. Sad and alone at the bar. But what if the Cure and New Order got invited to the bar?

“Golden Sun”

Life can feel pretty mundane. You commute to work, toil away at your job, and go to the same bar every night. But something keeps you going. The sun doesn’t have to be shining on your face for you to feel it. We had a rule against strumming guitars on some of our previous albums. We’d often write songs on the guitar, record around a strumming scratch track and then mute it. This time we let ourselves be acoustic guitar songwriter guys.

You can order a copy of Away From the Castle here.