Lockdown is a new song by LYR, featuring Florence Pugh and Pete Wareham of Melt Yourself Down.The song is set to a poem by poet laureate Simon Armitage, written in response to the coronavirus restrictions. 'Lockdown' moves from the outbreak of bubonic plague in Eyam, Derbyshire in the 17th century - when a bale of cloth sent from London inadvertently brought fleas carrying the plague - to the poem Meghaduta by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, which follows the legend in which an exile sends words of reassurance to his wife in the Himalayas via a passing cloud. The song was recorded and filmed remotely at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceeds from the release will go to Refuge, a UK-based charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.The video was directed by Daniel Broadley. Filmed in Bristol in May during lockdown, he asked locals to partake in the project from a safe distance, resulting in a series of smile-inducing clips.
—LYR