COVID-19 wasn’t yet on the horizon when Ronley Teper wrote “Crazy Times” two days before heading into the studio last year with her band, The Lipliners, to record her new album. Yet the urgent, doom synth pop, soulful blues explosion, in which Teper’s raspy yet clear voice implores folks to come together like fam(ily) because shit’s hitting the fan, was written in response to climate change and a world in crisis divided by class, religion and ideology.  

Clocking in at under two minutes, the video for “Crazy Times” — conceptualized, created and directed by Meghan McKnight and edited by Ronley Teper — explores themes of precariousness and our current apocalyptic climate, creating a call to unity in the form of an animated genesis myth.

WATCH THE
VIDEO FOR "CRAZY TIMES" 
Crazy Times officially releases August 25th 2021 on all platforms.

Director’s Statement: This two-dimensional, stop-motion animation uses paper from my collage archive as well as some paper cut specifically for the video. All of the material I used in creating this video was either thrifted, donated or found. The narrative is an allegory on creation, greed, and our capacity for redemption. The scale and setting in the video shift between the microcosmic and macrocosmic. The opening scene is a cave of primordial beginnings and mysterious processes. Creation evolves and flourishes, but a bullet-like insect that represents industry or exploitative capitalism interferes with the pristine scene, resulting in an entombing by an avalanche of gold. Fire and microbes take over, and the scene devolves into unrecognizable forms, a realm of uncertainty devoid of colour and order. This disorder is followed by greening, representing hope and the capacity to regenerate. Replanting and growth ensues and creatures co-operate to reveal a cosmic gem, a reminder of our unity and relative significance in the universe.
Meghan McKnight

“Crazy Times” was performed by Ronley Teper and The Lipliners, featuring Ronley Teper on vocals, Jesse Baird (Feist) on drums, Christine Bougie (Bahamas) on electric guitar & lap steel, Vivienne Wilder on bass, Chris Pruden on keyboards, Jaron Freeman-Fox on guitar, beats & bg vocals, Gordon Hyland (Dwayne Gretzky) on tenor saxophone, Benjamin Hermann, Spencer Murray, Angela Sharma, Leo Krukowski on background vocals. 

“Talk about timely,” Teper says of the single and video. “The video was completed in February. I had been an admirer of Meghan’s collage and other fine arts works for some time and enjoyed chatting with her when we would bump into each other around town. I was confident that our creative visions would connect as we are similar in creative spirit—and it turned out to be a super smooth collaboration. She got the song’s message across beautifully and I’m excited to finally share it.” “When COVID lockdown hit Toronto I just sat on the video. I was in shock." Teper says. "Only after revisiting the track after much friendly peer pressure did I realize I’m still optimistic enough to believe in the song’s message and our significance in the universe.

Ronley Teper’s upcoming sixth LP "Everyone Loves A Good Story", is produced by Jaron Freeman-Fox, and is due out October 8th, 2021.