‘Salamander Street’ is Callum Beattie’s most recent video release and features on his debut LP, People Like Us. Beattie tackles a difficult topic as he tells the tale of a personal experience of seeing an old school friend on the Edinburgh thoroughfare as a sex worker.
‘Salamander Street’ is a remarkably powerful song that is only emphasised by a terrific music video. Shot on the desolate streets of Edinburgh, the video excellently embraces the initial coldness and heartbreak expressed throughout the song, as we see the central female character experience extreme emotional and physical pain. But despite the doom and gloom of the hardship she suffers, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
As for the song itself, Callum Beattie’s effort to tell a personal tale more than succeeds, as the emotion felt throughout the lyrics is clear. Beattie expertly provides lyrics that express clear hopefulness through a bleak situation, and through his delivery allows for the song to have a sense of warmth and optimism. ‘Salamander Street’ is a song where the greatest achievement is the vocals, with Beattie’s warmth and vibrance elevating the track to have a more powerful meaning.
If ‘Salamander Street’ is anything to go by, Callum’s Beattie could be the latest commodity to come out of Scotland, and with sold-out headline shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow, it seems to be the case.
Words by Paul Dawson
Photo by EliettAlcantara