Landing via Soft boy Records, Yenkee’s new spaghetti western meets teleshopping dance mat demonstration is directed by Kojaque and pays tribute to the great Dolly Parton.

It’s been a busy enough time for Yenkee. The Cork singer and songwriter dropped ‘Drive’ through Soft Boy Records earlier this year, had his dad break the internet with his reaction to shite pints of Guinness and now he’s returned with his second release on the Irish label ahead of his support slot on Kojaque’s European tour.

Weaving between fever dreams about Hollywood parties and white limousines and the crushing grind of day to day life, ‘Dolly’ is Yenkee trying to make sense of the disparity between his dreams and reality. Wrestling with hand puppets and travelling through space, The London-based singer’s new visuals are directed by Soft Boy Records co-founder Kojaque bringing a layer of absurdity to a cut that invites you to indulge in your wildest fantasies .

Ahead of the premiere we caught up with Yenkee to talk about the new video, his touring crew and his dad’s enthusiasm for a creamy pint.

Where did the inspiration for the video come from?

The concept for the video came completely from a big crew of my friends who blew me away with their enthusiasm for this track. It was directed by Kojaque, who has a great ability to come up with visual ideas to compliment my tunes. There was a big group of talented people who came up with a dance routine and all these other cool ideas to do with cowboys and puppets. I was completely useless in all of this. I just showed up on the day and did what they told me to do.

To what extent did the lyrics inform the visuals if at all?

I love Dolly Parton. Naming the song after her and referencing her in the lyrics opened up a whole load of opportunities to shoot fun stuff for the music video. The lyrics loosely outline a day in the life of someone who’s drifting between daydreams and reality, so that informed the storyline to a certain extent.

Can you talk a little about the process of recording the video, looked like a lot of fun

We shot it over the space of two days. My friends Alice and Ruth came up with a dance routine and I learned it. Kojaque came up with a storyline involving puppets. It was very loose and fun. We were all just coming up with ideas on the fly and running with it. I can’t stress enough how useless I am in these situations, so I’m grateful to have friends who are creative and full of energy. I tend to be a bit shy, so dancing and acting silly like that gets me out of my head.

Will the hand puppets be coming on tour?

Myself and the puppets didn’t get along very well. You could cut the tension with a knife. But yes, I am contractually obliged to bring them on tour.

Has your dad recovered from seeing shitlondonguinness?

I don’t think he ever will. He’s definitely become more enthusiastic about a good pint of Guinness. He sends me pictures of these gorgeous pints he gets back home in Cork to wind me up. He knows the ones I drink aren’t half as good.

Watch the video for ‘Dolly’ below:

Last year we selected Yenkee amongst 14 other acts as part of our Future of Irish Music 2021 feature.

Previous premiere: Premiere: shiv moves through the seasons in ‘The Love Interlude’.