“It’s like a gritty indie film of heartbreak to add to the current collection – I love the way the videos each have their own feel, but you still have a sense that they belong together, much like the songs on ‘Deathdreams,’” says Emily “Agent M” Whitehurst, vocalist of indie electropop outfit Survival Guide, about the concept surrounding her new video for ‘Sour Sorrow.’
The cathartic song comes off her newly released fourth full-length album ‘Deathdreams,’ released on October 19th via Double Helix Records, and she says it was the first song she finished for the album. “It was an assignment for a combined songwriting and recording class I took online. I spent a lot of time telling myself it would be too hard to write an album as a solo artist (even though I wanted to), so this song means a lot to me because it represents when I finally sat down and took measures to do something about it.”
Coming to her while her emotions and grief were still raw, the lyrics for this “emotionally charged” breakup song flowed freely out of her. “I know breakup songs are nothing new, but this is one of the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever written, and I hope others out there can relate so I don’t have to cringe alone.”
The video was done in collaboration with The Motivated Mind Group who had directed her three previous videos ‘Blood Perfume,’ ‘Lady Neptune,’ and ‘Pie.’ “The production on this one was extremely stripped-down. Bryan (Heiden, video director) conceptualized, wrote, filmed, and edited the whole thing! He wanted to take it in a different direction by doing mostly handheld shots and natural lighting. For most of this video, I’m looking angry or upset, which was a fun acting challenge! The way Bryan edited it together makes it extra intense. I like that there’s so much implied in the story but there are still unanswered questions,” Emily finishes.