Vertigo

Album: The Great Pretenders (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Mini Mansions are the side project of Queen of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman. This song features a vocal contribution from Arctic Monkeys' vocalist Alex Turner, who played on QOTSA's 2013 album, ...Like Clockwork. In addition, QOTSA frontman Josh Homme co-produced Arctic Monkeys' Humbug LP and Mini Mansions were the support act during the British band's 2014 US headlining shows. "We've become close with Alex and the rest of the Arctic Monkeys," Shuman explained to NME. "He lives down the street in LA from the studio we were recording in, so he'd just drop by."

    "We had this idea that the second verse of 'Vertigo' would be sung with a British-type (frontman of northern England band The Fall) Mark E Smith vocal," he continued. "It seemed the obvious choice to have a real Brit on it."

    "He wrote the lyrics pretty quickly and knocked the whole thing out in one take," Shuman added.
  • The video stars Alex Turner and a parade of topless models. Speaking to NME about the clip, Michael Shuman explained: "It's naughty. It's very naughty. Almost every shot is based on an old horror movie or Italian horror movies."

    "The guy who made it basically ripped off every shot based off of something else," he continued. "We did a bunch of weird s--t - that's what we like doing and then see what he does with it. The night before, we played a private party, which was really f--king weird and we were all really hungover when we got there in the morning. There were all these naked models. It was just a weird, surreal thing, and that's the kind of video it is."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.