Raven Numan has recently shared her debut single, “My Reflection”, in which she showcases her ability to convey her emotions and personal experiences through her music. The new single is accompanied with a music video that certainly creates a tense atmosphere for the viewer with the dark visualizations and colors incorporated. Attached above is the music video along with the new single that the press release has shared. 

As one can note by watching the video, the entirety of the visualizations depicted are goth-like images, with black colors covering the full screen and harsh imagery shows such as a shattered mirror. Numan’s vocals are soft and she sings in a lower pitch, which inevitably adds on to the tense nature of the single, but it also allows the listener to feel more calm as opposed to an upbeat song. The instrumentation within the song is creative as it adds elements to the overall message of the song with the darker and slower instruments being played, and the pauses in between continues to add that tension and space for thought.

When one listens to the lyrics in the song, it can be concluded that Numan is writing about her struggles with her self-image and authentically sharing her experiences with self-esteem issues and her overall struggle with her self-concept. For instance, the line “got my credentials for something I’ll never be” is crucial in understanding how Numan is singing about her internal conflict with trying to please her external world but trying to remain truthful to who she is. 

Without a doubt, the internal conflict that Numan is singing about is a tense space to be in, so it makes sense as to why the music video and the song itself has so many elements that highlight a darker tone. Moreover, the shattered mirror in the music video is symbolic as it represents how the way she views herself is shattered due to pressure she feels from the outside world. The press release shares the artists’ own revelation of the meaning behind her song in which she describes, “My Reflection’ is about the unrealistic beauty standards that have been pushed on us since adolescence. We’ve been fed lies about beauty from a young age through countless mediums: lingerie models, makeup commercials, even cartoons employ beauty standards.”