Genesis Owusu has held onto the reign of being one of Australia’s most exciting breakthrough stars since his first release several years ago. The Ghanian-born, Australian-based performer’s avant-garde twist on R&B, hip-hop and future-funk sees him dancing around a melting pot of his own dynamic layers. Today, he releases “Gold Chains,” another amorphous track and visual that sees him punching into space with his signature fiery energy. Taken from his anticipated debut album, Smiling With No Teeth (House Anxiety / Ourness) -- out on March 5, 2021 -- the “Gold Chains'' music video was directed by Riley Blakeway. The video furthers the track’s luxurious and rich tones, simulating the spectacle of suffering to break one’s self-commodification. Owusu lays displaced alongside a haze of monochromatic 70’s meeting stylized 2000’s gold chains and confetti, as he falls further down the rabbit hole of loneliness.
“‘Gold Chains’ got me thinking about the flaws of being in a profession where, more and more, you have to be the product, rather than just the provider of the product, and public misconceptions about how luxurious that is,” notes Owusu. “Lyrically, it set the tone for the rest of the album.” On the video, he tells The FADER, "The video is about the hollowness of a lot of the things we hold as idols. The shiny things that get made to look like goals from the outside looking in, but in reality won't be the source of happiness that we'd hoped for. The gold chains become shackles.”
Smiling With No Teeth is a 15-track collection that carousels the prodigy's shockwave of energy, as he blurs the boundaries of genre. Owusu layers the album with complex issues such as race and mental health, under a rollercoaster of oscillating soundscapes. Each chapter is a personal testimony and reflection upon such issues, slathered in Owusu’s chameleon-like presence while not shying away from the harsh realities at the core of the album.
The road to the release of Owusu's debut album has been littered with praise. Since the release of his debut Cardrive EP in 2016, Owusu has landed international appraisal from the likes of Elton John and The Free Nationals and received several ARIA-nominations--Australia’s highest musical honor. He was also NME Australia’s January’s cover star, and has been labeled an ‘Artist To Watch’ among The Guardian, NPR Music and more.
With “Gold Chains,” Owusu brings us one step closer to the release of Smiling With No Teeth which will be released by influential tastemaker imprint House Anxiety (King Krule, Courtney Barnett, Vagabon, Hazel English and more) and Australian label Ourness. On the heels of the album release, Owusu and his Goon Club crew are also preparing for an extensive spring tour throughout Australia, installing their raucous live energy into venues across the country.
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