By Ellen Reade

Equally bizarre and mundae, “Trash Bag” by the The Forties evokes an immediate reaction of “Hold up, what?”



The Forties is the creation of Edmonton-to-Montreal transplant Robben Lent. A relatively new project, the act kicked off the new year with the five-track EP Live Tonight. Lent previously played in SWEAT, but after its members parted ways, he began work on a new sound that is “more in line with [his] own musical ambitions.”



“Trash Bag” opens with text reading “[M]ost people don’t have maps, we are a series of random events,” an appropriate introduction to the onslaught of seemingly random contents to follow.



While it appears scattered at a glance, “Trash Bag” tells the story of an average and monotonous day: waking up, getting a phone call, taking a shower, riding a bike, and talking to a friend. The monotony is mashed together using an amalgamation of eccentric editing choices.



While the video uses many special effects and formats, each one is used minimally: alleyways rotoscoped into bed sheets, kaleidoscope effects, mesmerizing timelapses, split second stop motion clips, bombardments of split screens, and dazzling aerials are all sandwiched together at a rapid pace.



The fast cut editing portrays the unpredictability of living—moments pass before they can be realized.



Lyrically “Trash Bag” tackles fond but difficult memories, relaying brief descriptions of moments passed with wistful delivery.



The combination of the editing, lyrics, and vocal style create an overwhelming feeling of longing—a bittersweetness reflected in the psychedelic undertones hidden between shots of Montreal’s muddy urban landscapes.



“Trash Bag” is clever and creative in the way it approaches the unplanned nature of day-to-day life. The most average experiences can easily turn to disarray—random events lead to more random events.

