Following the release of her third album, Couples Only, out now via Sonic Ritual, Queen Kwong a.k.a. Carré Callaway has shared the new single “Sad Man“and its accompanying video costarring Johnny Knoxville (Jackass, Bad Grandpa). The song takes aim at specific experiences, as does the album which evokes “facing the worst betrayals and learning to accept devastating loss”.
As “an ode to all of the sad men” Calloway has encountered throughout her time in the music industry, “Sad Man” is dedicated to all “the f*ckboys, the narcissists, the band dudes who think they’re all that,” she notes. The video was inspired by Abel Ferrara’s 2009 neo-noir film Bad Lieutenant, and finds Knoxville inhabiting the tortured role that Harvey Keitel embodied.
Calloway comments on Knoxville’s role:
I knew it would take a really special guy to perform in this video, someone who wasn’t afraid of really embracing what the song represents.
Even though the Sad Man video couldn’t be more different than Jackass, I knew Knoxville was the one for it. He’s clearly fearless and has a sense of humor… We danced around, cried and then we went to a church and prayed. Knox was so open to trying everything. It was amazing to work with someone who could have easily been a diva but instead gave 100% of himself to the role, learning all the words and embracing the discomfort. His performance was so powerful that when he started crying, I started crying.
Calloway’s record Couples Only assembles notable contributing musician friends including The Cure’s Roger O’Donnell (keyboards), Swans’ Kristof Hahn (lap steel) and Blood Red Shoes’ Laura-Mary Carter (backing vocals) who appear on assorted tracks on the LP.
