In recent years, Victoria outfit West My Friend have been establishing themselves in the folk scene, delivering beautiful and thought-provoking music.
Now, the band have created an enthralling new music video for their poetic new track Salt Water.
West My Friend utilises stunning ocean-related visuals to bring the band’s intended metaphor of anxiety to life, pulling viewers in and sending chills down their spines.
The video shows vocalist Eden Oliver as she wades into the cold sea, with accompanying lyrics that are both soulful and poetic. The clip displays a slowly swelling kaleidoscope of faces, as Oliver forges hair raising harmonies on the bed of male backing vocals.
Salt Water hypnotically functions as a metaphor for Oliver’s anxiety. As Oliver slowly paddles into the cool blue sea, she shows us how we must disengage from thoughts, worries, and fears and live in the present moment. In this sense, West My Friend use the ocean as the ultimate conduit between the different and beautiful truths of many lives around the world.
Salt Water is the first taste of the group’s forthcoming album In Constellation, which is set to be a Cascadian epic centred around the ocean as a critical connecting force, steeped in coastal imagery and rising dynamics.
Salt Water is a truly unique song that sounds both intricate and cinematic. The accompanying clip brings it to life even further, showcasing the rawness of the band’s sound and the unique talent of each band member.
It is clear that West My Friend creates music which draws from the band’s real-life experiences, painting vivid pictures of anxiety and belonging which is unique and symbolic of the band’s changing dynamics and frames of mind.
Grassroots guitar, mandolin, accordion, orchestral instruments, and interweaving harmonies are set to be featured even further in the group’s upcoming album In Constellation created by Eden Oliver, Alex Rempel, and Jeff Poynter.
With over 650 performances and several tours under their collective belt, West My Friend is bringing forth a sound which brings new meaning to words and imagery in a way you would have never expected.
There is so much diversity present in even just one of their songs. The thought-provoking substance of Salt Water clearly portrays West My Friend as a group that is distinguishing themselves from almost every existing folk-rock group.
Check out the music video for Salt Water below:
