Back in April, Jack White released the the bombastic Fear of the Dawn, the first of two LPs he has on the docket for this year. As his enormous Supply Chain Issues tour rolls on, the release of the second and more contemplative of the two albums is coming up. Entering Heaven Alive is set to drop on July 22.
Today, White has published a gorgeous and unsettling music vid for the Entering Heaven Alive slow-burner “If I Die Tomorrow.” Amid strummed guitars (playing chords that remind me of “Heart-Shaped Box”), loping bass and Mellotron flutes, White finds himself suddenly aware of the fragility of his existence. He can’t do anything to change the circumstance, but he can still provide for those he cares for after he’s gone. “I begged and borrowed everybody’s love,” he sings, “And they gave for free / And I wish that I could give it back to them / So if I die tomorrow / Will you give them all the love they lent to me?”
In the video, directed by Brantley Gutierrez, White trudges through a landscape haunted by characters who aren’t all menacing but who do seem, let’s say, a little eldritch. With his handsome duster and the coffin he drags behind him, White cuts a figure reminiscent of (OK, almost exactly like) Franco Nero’s Django — if he found himself suddenly in The Seventh Seal. What do the inhabitants of this territory want with him? Well, if the person he’s singing to is willing to help him out, it won’t matter much. Give it a watch to find out.
Meanwhile, find all things related to White’s albums and tour via his website, and keep up with all things Third Man Records (including new releases and upcoming shows in The Blue Room) via the label’s site.
