Sadie Dupuis’ solo project, Sad13, has shared a new Halloween-esque music video for her single “The Crow,” which had first appeared on her recent album Haunted Painting, that had been released last month. The video features animation from Jono Ganz, and takes viewers through ghoulish animation and old-fashioned movie cards.
“‘The Crow’ wound up the heaviest song on Haunted Painting, although the demo was originally inspired by Clairo and solo Rob Crow,” Sad13 said in a press statement. “I started the lyrics on a 22-hour layover in L.A. after hearing of David Berman’s death, trying to process the lost of an artist whose keen writing helped make sense of a convoluted world. Waiting to fly home, I posted up at Taix, a favored haunt of another favorite writer, Eve Babitz. Her work couldn’t be more different from Berman; in Black Swans, she writes about weekending at the Chateau Marmont during the L.A. riots, oblivious (‘faint-hearted bottle blonde hiding out until the smoke just passes,’ I wrote in the lyrics.) It can be tempting to embrace frivolous luxury when horrific shit happens nearly every day and your brain’s had enough.”
The lyric video features a monster working as a bartender, a group of baby crows turning into skeletons and dancing lyrics in vivid colors. A crow plucks at the lyrics and crawls out of a skull while the video shares the spirit of Halloween. Each animation matches in time perfectly with the track, the words sliding on screen in unison with Dupuis’ voice while a crow’s footprints match each note of the electric guitar. Each animation is accompanied by vibrant tones, lending captivating visuals to draw listener’s in as each lyric dances on the screen.
“Jono Ganz is a great illustrator who has done music videos for friend’s bands like Supermilk and Chreerbleederz,” Sad13 said in a press statement. “On this one, he drew inspiration from mid-20th century film title cards, horror and otherwise. I spotted Spider Baby, The Dunwich Horror and Halloween among his references, but also Bond movies and Bonjour Tristesse (surely also a favorite of Babitz.) I love typography and text art so it was a treat for me to have Jono bring this song and its words alive alongside some very cute movie monsters.”
“The Crow” is the latest single to come from Sad13’s Haunted Painting, with previous singles including “Ghost (Of Good Time),” “Oops…!,” “Hysterical” and “Ruby Wand.” Dupuis also shared cover of Phantom Plane’s “California” back in August. Back in May, Sad13 also shared the single “WTD?” for the Adult Swim Singles series. In June, Dupuis contributed to the Alzheimer’s Benefit Compilation The Longest Day under her Sad13 alias, alongside Moby, Anna Calvi and more. Dupuis had also shared her high-school era recordings on the Bad Songwriter podcast this past summer, including her track “Sixteen” that had charted at number 2 on MySpace back in 2004. Additionally, Dupuis remains the frontwoman for the indie rock band Speedy Ortiz.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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