Watch: Connan Mockasin’s “Do I Make You Feel Shy?”

Psyche pop king Connan Mockasin released the second video single for his 2013 charmer, Caramel this week, and though it still very much reflects his voice, it is a visual departure from his other eccentric work. The strangely un-strange “Do I Make You Feel Shy?” lacks the colorfully weird trip-like quality of videos like “It’s Choade My Dear”. His newest visual production is more anchored in the weirdness of a karaoke performance, one that the platinum blonde Mockasin shyly rebuffs for the first minute of the video. His signature bizarre stamp is more apparent once he starts singing; Mockasin performs and watches the images of himself performing from the other side of a television screen. His viewing party is followed by minimal swaying, and underwhelming specks of light that bounce off a disco ball in a near-empty bar. Though he might be feeling shy as the song suggests, his situation seems mundane compared to the random lemon-slice sunglasses and slathering of face paint present in Connan’s early work.

It might be that his new understated ethic is true to a creative shift since his first studio album, Forever Dolphin Love, which was mesmerizingly outlandish nonsense. In contrast, sophomore effort Caramel is packed with a flirtatious vibe, slow and sensuous beats, and has a cohesive theme and well-articulated lyrics. Caramel may not be as explicitly (and sometimes uncomfortably) peculiar, but his individual oddball style is certainly funneled into a more contained form. He seems to have mastered the art of subtle freakishness, and “Do I Make You Feel Shy?” reflects that; especially when the double karaoke act ends. The few people in the bar clap, and we feel a sense of false awakening as the picture fades into a modest advertisement for Charlie’s Bar/Club.

Connan Mockasin is currently wrapping up his US tour in the East Coast and will move on to Europe after.

Find both Caramel and Forever Dolphin Love on iTunes.

Check out the rest of his music videos on his YouTube channel.

Article by Linda Choi