Open Mike Eagle releases the surreal new music video for “My Co Worker Clark Kent’s Secret Black Box”, expanding the fictional cable channel universe of his acclaimed album ‘Neighborhood Gods Unlimited’, out now on Auto Reverse Records. Directed by Stoney Sharp, the video leans into the song’s dreamlike tone while building on the album’s layered worldbuilding. The album earned praise from Bandcamp, Paste and Pitchfork, which awarded it Best New Music and called Mike “a sly, adaptive songwriter” with melodies and delivery that continue to evolve.
Beyond music, Mike has spent years creating television projects including his Comedy Central series The New Negroes. He says the concept for ‘Neighborhood Gods Unlimited’ grew from his long standing idea, Dark Comedy Television, a one hour fictional cable network inspired by the tone of works like Get Out, Sorry to Bother You and Boots Riley’s I’m A Virgo. Mike shares that the emotional core of the project comes from his own past, describing the album as a story about people searching for themselves and becoming confused when they encounter reflections of their own trauma. Realizing how easily TV projects can be shelved, he chose to turn the idea into music for both creative freedom and mental well being, saying it “felt good to make” and allowed him to protect a story he wasn’t willing to lose.