In the year 2020, a lot of songs have taken on new meaning. Earlier todaty we hyped Calico Sky’s synthwave jam “Stay In Bed”, which was written about night owl culture but has now assumed a new message in the age of quarantine. Similarly, fella Los Angeles band SWIMM today hit with “Feel Better,” a song about predatory behavior in Hollywood that can also be applied to our desperate need for self-care as we traverse this damn pandemic.
“Feel Better” is the latest single from the psych-pop quartet, and is out today (August 24) in video form before it hits the streams on Tuesday. It’s centered around offering solace and hope to a young woman who falls victim to “the cliches of men in Hollywood taking advantage of starry-eyed transplants for the first time” says SWIMM vocalist Chris “Cookie” Hess. In the end, the message is to slow down and do what’s right for herself.
“You hear so much about the cliches of men in Hollywood taking advantage of starry-eyed transplants that you almost think you’ll be numb, or at the least, unsurprised when you see it first hand,” says Hess. “But when I witnessed it up close for the first time it had a pretty profound effect on me. In other words it made me sad as fuck. I became invested in the story of this woman and wanted to trace things back to the start for her… when her aspirations fueled a very courageous leap of faith. She is one of the most courageous people I know and this song is my way of reminding her of that and of the chimerical nature of chasing a dream and that despite what the manipulative fiends of this weird ass city say, it is ok to slow down and do what you need to do to feel good.”
Hess adds: “Of course the only thing weirder than LA is the year 2020, which has re-contextualized everything. The song has become a makeshift mantra… it’s important to recognize when, even if only for a moment, we feel better.”
The video, directed by Adam Winn, offers to capture moments of peace, viewed from high above a West Coast beach. Watch it below.