There is something incredibly intimate about watching another person strip.

Hold on you gutter-minds, and let me explain: I don’t just mean getting your girlfriend to take her expensive lingerie off for you (or your ‘girlfriend’ in the Cross, either). I mean something a bit more natural: the kind of stripping that is usually kept between oneself and one’s bathroom mirror. Cosmetics and clothes aside, there’s another kind of striptease that takes place here – one that gets right underneath your skin. No matter how carefully you prepare your appearance for the outside world, that damn mirror somehow knows how to get you naked quick-smart.

The new video from Sydney band I Know Leopard throws us right into that intimate space, exploring the peculiar way people perform for their own reflection when they think no one else is watching. And who better to capture the world of appearances than Cindy Pastel, the original Priscilla Queen of the Desert? (Outtatheway, Hugo Weaving!)

Directed by Hari Jago and filmed in the back-stage room at Oxford Art Factory, the clip for ‘Useless’ unravels Pastel’s character slowly and simply. Visually striking and addictive to watch, it is a beautiful compliment to the track. ‘Useless’ is straight-up self-deprecation: endearingly honest, charmingly hopeless, an anthem for the shy and naked in all of us.

FREE DOWNLOAD: You can grab ‘Useless’ for free as part of I Know Leopard’s ‘Embers’ digital sampler here, thanks to Ratbag Music.
 

WHAT: I Know Leopard @ Upstairs Beresford (supporting Rapids)
WHEN: Saturday 16 June
WHERE: Upstairs Beresford, 354 Bourke Street, Surry Hills
DETAILS: http://www.facebook.com/events/480867748596831/