Tim DeLaughter, who is perhaps best known as founder and frontman of 20-plus-member symphonic rock band The Polyphonic Spree, will soon bring his musical stylings to the background of a new art flick titled Wee See. What began as a children’s project has expanded to a wider audience, as DeLaughter notes: “It’s been amazing to see people’s reactions to it,” he says. “Adults are as engaged as any baby we’ve shown it to. It’s clearly something that will appeal to a much broader audience than we originally anticipated. It’s an incredibly inviting experience that will play as well in a museum or a party as it will in a living room.”
Collaborating with New York visual artist Rolyn Barthelman, DeLaughter’s score accompanies Barthelman’s artistic sequences – the film uses shapes – both basic and imaginative – and moves them in specific motion to create aesthetically pleasing pictures which is accompanied by DeLaughter’s eclectic soundtrack. Musically, it runs from ambient, to childish, with sound punctuations and human noises as well. It seems to be meant as more background noise than a full feature, but it is quite intriguing none the less.
The film is currently available in two “collections”:
- Collection one contains 14 graphic black-and-white animations built from basic shapes to delight both child and parent. With great sensitivity to the delicate nature of its audience, WEE SEE’s animations move methodically slow, each piece stopping multiple times over the course of a continually evolving animation.
- Collection two contains more imaginative black-and-white animations. Stars, hearts, and flowers join the basic geometric designs that are the foundation of the first collection. Shapes come together to build a single pattern that then deconstructs. Melodies become more expansive as viewers are transported by another completely original score.
Both collections are available via weseeworld.com. Check out a preview below:
In other news, DeLaugher and wife Julie Doyle (also of Polyphonic) are beginning the writing processes for the Spree’s fourth album. Doyle ‘elaborates’ : “We’ve probably written a lot of the new album just by ‘living’ — now we’ve gotta figure out the best way to translate it in a musical fashion.” With that bit of information, its safe to assume absolutely nothing. But the creative minds behind the Spree would leave nothing to certainty anyhow.
