The alt country singer-songwriter from Kent, Jessica Lea Mayfield has just released a new music video for her track “Meadow.” The song is the second single so far from Mayfield’s upcoming fourth album Sorry Is Gone, which will be dropping September 29 via ATO Records.
The song has already gathered a heap of praise, from NPR Music’s Bob Boilen’s declaration that “Jessica Lea Mayfield is taking back her life” to Stereogum’s description of it as an “appealing blend of melancholy resignation and defiant self-will.”
The video itself features Mayfield wandering around in a pastel-pink haze in a variety of outfits, with every scene growing just a little bit eerier, as bright colors of the clip contrast with the melancholy dips in the song.
“When I saw Natalie’s final edited version of this video I cried happy tears,” said Mayfield, about working with director Natalie Neal. “This song is about not wanting anything to cloud your judgment because you are trying to protect yourself. It’s about leaving a party and not saying goodbye to anyone, and wanting so badly to be able to trust someone you shouldn’t.”
Sorry Is Gone is Mayfield’s first solo album since 2014’s Make My Head Sing…, which was released to widespread acclaim. Of the album, Rolling Stone asserted, “…Mayfield’s echo-laden bluegrass vocals mesh with scorching electric guitar lines to render remarkable results,” while Pitchfork praised, “There’s something certainly compelling about this raw, minimalist sound” and NPR’s Fresh Air proclaimed, “The music is heavy, but it soars.” Mayfield most recently released music in 2015, with her collaboration with Seth Avett on Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith, a tribute record.
“The whole record is about me taking my life back, without really realizing it,” said Mayfield in promotion of the new LP. “I realized I’m the only person that is going to look out for me. I have to be my main person. No one else. I have to sing about things and write about things that have happened to me as therapy. That’s what connects me to other music I listen to. I want music to make me feel things. This is my inner dialogue, and my chance to get the last word.”
Check out the video for “Meadow” below.
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