Tennis legend John McEnroe features in the music video to 86TVs’ latest single ‘Komorebi’ – the Japanese word for sunlight seeping through the leaves of trees.
The connection between McEnroe and 86TVs started when Felix White was tasked with composing the music to the highly acclaimed ‘McEnroe’ Feature Documentary. McEnroe has always been a huge fan of guitar music, and has spent much of his post-tennis life jumping on stage with the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Eagles and Pearl Jam.
McEnroe told Felix only that he “didn’t want the music to sound like Titanic” and that under no circumstances was there to be any cello (the latter being a promise Felix couldn’t quite keep). When the film was launched at the Tribeca Film Festival, John announced – completely to Felix’s surprise – that he was going to be joining him in his band on guitar at his Wimbledon after party. They have now done it three years running, playing covers very loudly to slightly bewildered McEnroe fanatics waiting to meet their sporting hero afterwards.
The three-time Wimbledon champion plays 86TVs’ therapist in the video but soon discovers that he doesn’t have the answers to their problems. His frustration boils into fury, and his extreme reaction turns the sessions into a family therapy anger management situation. What emerges is a fascinating contrast: the rage and the destruction of the visual is counterbalanced by the atmosphere, restraint and melancholy of the music. The video was made by the same team behind the ‘McEnroe’ Feature Documentary: Barney Douglas (director) and Steve Williams (editor).
Felix says, “John landed on the day of the shoot in time for him to cover Wimbledon the next day. He really relished the role and frightened the life out of us, throwing us through tables, and smashing us over the head with chairs and vases. It’s not what Will would have had in mind when he wrote the words, but when ‘untie me from the stone, lift me up letting me go’ is coupled with John meditating on the carpet, after trying to rid his mind of our anxieties about our upcoming album release which has taken six years to come to fruition, you can’t help but feel some things are just meant to be.”
86TVs are made up of Maccabees members Hugo and Felix White together with their brother Will White and drummer Jamie Morrison (Noisettes and Stereophonics). They have established themselves as one of the hottest rising bands around and will release their self-titled on August 2nd.
The band will celebrate the release of the album by embarking upon a run of intimate record store shows ahead of their biggest UK and European headline run in November.
Listen to Komorebi on the Official Wimbledon playlist.
