Brightness – “Talk To Me” Video
The minimal and tender nuances of “Talk To Me,” the solemn new single from Brightness, reflects the lax background of small-town singer-songwriter Alex Knight. Knight comes from the rural town of Lake Macquarie, Australia, where aside from spending time home-recording his shoegazey and contemplative music, he works as a professional window cleaner. “Talk To Me” is a reassuring track with a rhythm that slowly bulges at the end, where muffled brass enters and the guitar becomes heavier. His vocals repeat, “It’s all right if you don’t know how to do it, you’re in perfect company,” until you’re forced to believe it. The intense sobriety of Knight’s song is born from his openness to failure, being young and malleable to new experiences. He explains that:
The message in “Talk To Me” is that rawness and inexperience aren’t things to be ashamed of, especially for young people, and that it can be hazardous to affect composure and poise when in fact you feel totally lost. It carries a similar sentiment to “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M, but in this case it’s: “Everybody’s Green.”
Director Mclean Stephenson’s video for “Talk To Me” is a lo-fi collage with saturated images of fluffy clouds, toes snuggled into blankets of sand, and an anonymous brunette woman that wanders a rock-filled beach. Other segments feature Knight singing to the camera, his icy blue eyes completely serious when commanding your company: “Come sit down here. Talk to me.” Watch it below.
“Talk To Me” is from Brightness debut album Teething. Knight also offered some background on the album as a whole:
Teething was written and recorded over a period of time in which my internal compass was on the fritz and I was feeling particularly disoriented. The songs on the album correlate with the spectrum of mind-states I was in during this time – states of panic, frustration and dread, but also of love, excitement and euphoria.
Tracklist:
01 “Oblivion”
02 “Surrender”
03 “Talk To Me”
04 “Blow Fly”
05 “Silver Birch”
06 “Holy John”
07 “Waltz”
08 “Queen”
09 “Reprise”
Teething is out 6/30 through I OH YOU.
