Mick Fleetwood Releases New Recording Of ‘These Strange Times’
Mick Fleetwood, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, announced the release of a new recording and video of These Strange Times.
Originally issued on Fleetwood Mac’s 16th studio album, Time, in 1995, the song has been re-recorded, and 30 seconds of the classic Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac song, Albatross, have been added to the end of the song. It has also been given a brand new video.
Released as part of his Da*da*ism project, Fleetwood’s single and video was inspired by an eighteenth century painting that depicted the human struggle, and the accompanying single artwork centres around the idea of there being something better than us. The spoken-word poem at the centre of the song reveals Fleetwood questioning his feelings and thoughts, stuck between the dark and the light.
Fleetwood revealed in a statement accompanying the release that, “The project is about the energy of choice, of deciding if you want to be a part of the dark or the light when push comes to shove, which seems very apropos at this moment in history”.
While Fleetwood wasn’t originally sure when to issue it but, as its apt title shows, “the when is now.” The cinematic video, which comes in just under nine minutes, covers the globe showing topical footage shot in black-and-white of climate disaster (including bush fires and flooding), as well as race riots and protesting, and the global coronavirus pandemic. However, the video turns to colour and shows the beautiful side of the natural world and humanity – of family life, of architectural wonders of the world and most importantly, of hope. The ending, with its Albatross sample, makes for a poignant nod to the career of Peter Green, Fleetwood’s bandmate who passed away on 25 July 2020, aged 73.
The video, released by Rhino, can be watched below.