mxdwn PREMIERE: Henry Chadwick Finds a Moment of Clarity in New Video for “Awake”

Noise pop artist Henry Chadwick released a new EP this year called The President of Make Believe and today we’ve got the premiere for a video for his latest song “Awake.” There’s touches of power-pop and neo-psychedelic garage-rock in this guitar-driven nugget. Chadwick has a bit of a California drawl not unlike Ty Segall, recalling his Melted era with slightly more upbeat hooks and melodies.

“Awake” is the lead track from The President of Make Believe, kicking the five-song EP off with a bang. The album was released on Swoon City Music and was recorded in Santa Cruz and Brooklyn. The songs were recorded with engineer Mike Beck, who also mixed the EP.

“The song ‘Awake’ was is about having one of those epiphanies or moments of clarity, so to speak,” said Chadwick. “The music of the song, strangely has a sort of dreamlike quality, bordering on nightmarish when the bridge rolls around. I did the video with Justin Kohlberg who did a great job. We wanted the video to further juxtapose the lyrics and to feel a bit like a dream. I think Justin accomplished that mission! It looks beautiful and feels a bit mysterious and disjointed in the way a dream does. We played around with different colored smoke bombs which smelled bad and were probably toxic to inhale, but it was well worth the risk for the final result. Hope you enjoy!”