Years from now, music historians will look back at 2020 and identify the start of a new music video style: The quarantine vid.
Charli XCX did it. Boston’s Jake Swamp and the Pine did it. Dua Lipa used it as an excuse to make a killer cartoon. And today (July 24), TRISHES gets added to the roster.
Excavating a tune called “Gaslight,” the Berklee grad has shared her new, filmed-in-isolation music video, which features dancers Kalbe Isaacson, Friidom Dunn, Adam Lower, and Alyse Rockett. Originally penned three years ago about psychological abuse from a former lover, the final form of the song took shape over a wide time period, as TRISHES and her friend Andy Lewis fine-tuned an anxious tone with “creaking doors and poorly played cellos.”
The accompanying visual, however, came together during quarantine this spring, when TRISHES choreographed the five-minute vid with her fellow dancers via Zoom.
Hypothetically, the music video should have compounded two sources of emotional pain: Gaslighting and forced isolation. Instead, “Gaslight” keenly demonstrates the complex themes artists are capable of exploring — even when they’re locked in the confines of their bedrooms and bathrooms.
Considering the circumstances, it might be the only “easy” thing the L.A. singer does all year.
“The video shoot and choreography was surprisingly easy to coordinate — more so than any other video,” TRISHES tells Vanyaland. “I think we were all aching to create with other people, and had pretty open schedules given the stay at home orders. We could all film when we had time. There was no crew to coordinate or equipment to rent. I think total we had no more than four Zoom meetings. I think it’s also a testament to how talented my co-creators, Kalbe Isaacson and Friidom Dunn, are. It was a true collaboration and most of the best ideas came from them.”
Hear the flickering of TRISHES’ “Gaslight” below.