If there’s one thing that Waxahatchee (a.k.a. singer/songwriter Katie Crutchfield) has a firm grip on, it’s waxing sentimental with the seasons.
On her last record Out in the Storm, she braved post-breakup bitterness in the final heat of summer. Now, as spring starts to come into bloom, so does her forthcoming album Saint Cloud, most recently with her new song and video “Lilacs.”
Crutchfield shared the new video today (February 18), ahead of the official release of Saint Cloud next month (March 27).
“‘Lilacs’ was the last song I wrote for the record and it’s mostly just about obsessive/negative thought patterns,” Crutchfield says. ‘It’s about backsliding into old behaviors that don’t serve you and sort of letting your worst self get the best of you. I think that when people are in that mindset they can really try to turn the blame onto other people, so the song sort of plays out like a conflict you’d have with someone you love. It’s meant to capture that moment of heat that happens right when you realize you’re wrong or that your issue is more with yourself than with someone else — being flawed and fragile but making progress inch by inch.”
She adds: “The chorus serves as a sweet little resolve. I wanted it to feel like the light at the end of the tunnel and the reminder that it can always and often does get better.”
The video bursts with Crutchfield’s ripe Americana, but the true star of the video is Marlee Grace, the featured dancer for the visual.
“The first time I heard lilacs I knew I needed to dance to it,” Grace notes. “I know that dance and music and film all have the ability to bring people into their awareness of self and aliveness, creating this brought me into greater relationship with self and it is my hope that listeners and viewers experience this, too.”
Peep the video below, and see Waxahatchee perform at Boston’s Royale on April 16, and at Tuscon’s Club Congress on May 4.