It isn’t easy to capture the essence of a piece of audio in a visual format. That’s why creating any music video can be a big challenge that becomes downright gargantuan if you actually want to create a memorable one.
Today’s premiere stares down that herculean task and wrestles it to the ground by combining a track you’ll want to play on repeat with a video you can’t tear your eyes away from.
NOAMZ ticks both boxes with “Anxiety,” which pulls double duty as a single from her upcoming EP, Pandora’s Box, and a 211-second example of how committed she is to her craft. The following is a short list of what NOAMZ put herself through to visually represent the feeling of anxiety:
- Clothespins clipped to her lips, eyebrows, nose and cheek
- An abrasive-looking length of rope wrapped around her head and neck
- A bucket-sized (at minimum) amount of water dumped on her
- Several people using pens to draw uncomfortably close to her eyes
The video accomplishes what NOAMZ set out to do when she started writing the songs for Pandora’s Box, each of which was meant to “be an emotion I was afraid to express to the world because I’ve always been told that I was a defensive person, that I didn’t open up very easily.”
“I thought I’d challenge myself by showing the world emotions I was scared to express to others,” she continued, “and hopefully move through the defensiveness and allow myself to open up more easily to others and to be honest to myself as well. So I sat down and wondered what anxiety felt like to me, in song. And that’s how this single was born.”
I’d argue the video for “Anxiety” is the culmination of those efforts. The song by itself is a stone-cold groove propelled in large part by a rolling flute line that travels up and down in a roller-coaster fashion befitting the contrasting emotions NOAMZ sings about:
How do I start to even explain this?
Sometimes my heart can’t really take it
It’s kinda hard feeling this anxious
What if I try and I can’t make it?
Music’s my life, don’t think that I’ll quit
Well sometimes at night it doesn’t feel like it
The feelings come through the message, but you don’t necessarily connect with the discomfort because NOAMZ’ voice is like a perfectly prepared cup of tea — it’s so easy to enjoy. The same goes for the guest verse from Mato Wayuhi, an Oglala Lakota artist who wrote the music for the FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs and whose words glide effortlessly into the middle of the track.
The video, though. Oof. As we set up the particulars for premiering it, NOAMZ displayed her knack for understatement in saying, “The video was, indeed, not the most comfortable.” I’d argue the end result was worth it because you can’t help but squirm at least a little when watching. Seeing what she endures gives the lyrics greater impact and meets the challenge she laid out for herself: putting anxiety in song form.
If you haven’t already, watch the video at the top of the page, then follow NOAMZ on Instagram as she shares more in the lead up to the release of Pandora’s Box on Oct. 31.
'Anxiety' music video team
- Director: Naomi Hollard
- Videographers: Isaiah Thomas, Byron Banasiak
- Production assistants: Armin Fard, Divine Destiny
