“What if Death was just a dream?” is the rhetorical question New Bleach asks with their first single “Awake”. In these difficult and uncertain times where mortality and impermanence are daily conversation pieces, the band suggests that we should instead focus on the beauty that accompanies the ephemeral nature of everything: mainly the brief moments that are often more meaningful than we think. With a bed of aerial synthesizers, a catchy bass line and emotional vocals, this is definitely a contagious first offering.
Watch: New Bleach “Awake”
Directed by Maxyme Gagné, Dominic Pelletier and Raphaël Potvin, the video that accompanies the song features visuals that are both funereal and colorful, transporting us into a world halfway between science fiction and fantasy. With allusions to murder and chaos and psychedelic effects, the video, like the bittersweet melodies of the song, finds the duo balancing between threat and darkness with a mischievous and whimsical air.
