Mas Ysa – Margarita
Mas Ysa – Margarita (2015)
Directed by: Kris Moyes
Mas Ysa shares the video for Seraph single “Margarita” via Pitchfork. Directed by Kris Moyes (Beck, Sia, Grizzly Bear), the video was filmed in Hawaii at several locations across the big Island of Hawaii – Volcanoes National Park, Mauana Kea, Papakolea Beach (aka Green Sand Beach) and Kulaniapia Falls.
Seraph is the creation of Mas Ysa, aka Thomas Arsenault. He embraces cutting-edge electronic music, but owes plenty to traditional songwriting; songs that are made to pack a dance floor flow seamlessly into harrowing ballads, which is ever-present on his debut LP Seraph, which was released July 24, 2015 on Downtown Records.
In an earlier statement on the song “Margarita,” Arsenault said: “This is named for my mom, who’s also on the cover art of everything I do. It deals with the trauma of becoming your own autonomous person and that person when you see your parent as a fallible person. It’s a complicated thank you.”
Creating Seraph took the better part of a year – it was crafted in Arsenault’s home studio, received additional production help from Steve Rivette (Liars, Black Dice) and was mixed by grammy-nominated Damian Taylor (Björk, Arcade Fire).
While Seraph is his first full-length record, Arsenault is no newcomer. In 2013, after playing shows supporting Purity Ring and Deerhunter, the first Mas Ysa track, “Why,” was released and named a “Best New Track” by Pitchfork. The following year the Worth EP came out, nabbing another “Best New Track” nod for the song “Shame” and propelling Arsenault into the international spotlight with subsequent gigs around the world and across the United States. The Fader called him “an artist whose sound has arrived fully minted,” while Noisey noted “in Mas Ysa’s hands, every emotion feels titanic.” Thanks to his indefinable sound and wide appeal, Mas Ysa has since toured with bands including Delorean, EMA, Hundred Waters and Young Fathers and has played festivals such as Primavera, Pitchfork, Fun Fun Fun, Hopscotch, Northside, SXSW and NXNE.
