The Ophelias will release their new album Crocus on September 24th via Joyful Noise Recordings). head of the release, the band have shared a video for “Sacrificial Lamb.” “We were inspired by a lot of things for this video, from Twin Peaks to Joan of Arc. I’ve had the photo of Lorde by Perou, the Fiona Apple photo by Joe McNally, and Zendaya’s 2018 Met Gala look saved on moodboards for years, and Jo has been obsessed with Joan of Arc for equally as long. We wanted to play with the idea of literally putting one’s guard up and letting it down, visually contrasted through the full armor and the lacey dress (though still with the sword). Jo specifically wanted to call back to the deep shadows of Renaissance paintings and 40’s noir films.The natural setting next to the bright neon lights added a tension that we felt matched the build of the song. We shot at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, The Lodge KY, and the Valley View nature preserve with our DP Alex Halstead, who we’ve worked with previously on “Moon Like Sour Candy” and the feature film Hell Is Empty.”

On working with Julien Baker on “Neil Young On High”

“We met Julien for the first time in 2019 at a show we played in Nashville. She introduced herself (as if we didn’t already know who she was) and I tried to not show how nervous I was! About half a year into 2020 quarantine I worked up the nerve to ask if she wanted to feature on a song from the album we were working on. She said yes, and I was seriously over the moon. She recorded her parts in Tennessee and we talked virtually. Her parts reinvigorated the song completely: she added lightness, openness, but also depth and complexity. It’s incredibly cool that she put so much care into those parts.

After a relationship ended I would become obsessed with remembering every detail of the painful moments. I realized later that I don’t have to know what I was wearing or what song was playing to know that I was hurt deeply. I think “on high” means seeing someone as literally above you, better and cooler and more put together. I imagine it like paintings of angels, a halo of white light around a person to differentiate them from the laymen. I do love Neil Young, but in this case he represents a person, a time, a place.” – vocalist/guitarist Spencer Peppet.

Order Crocus by The Ophelias HERE