How many times must we repeat our mistakes before we learn? Megan Henwood’s latest single “Seventh” shares a story we all know only too well: The seemingly unbreakable cycle of falling down and getting up, only to fall down again. It’s a dance we’ll do all our lives in our beautiful and vicious struggle for survival.
First comes the bait,
Second the chase,
Third you are falling
By Fourth you feel safe,
Fifth stinks of settle,
Sixth brings a battle,
Seventh is the saddest stage.
Watch: “Seventh” – Megan Henwood
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the music video for “Seventh,” off Megan Henwood’s upcoming third album River (out October 27, 2017 via Dharma Records). The English singer/songwriter escalated her career in 2009 at the age of 20, winning BBC’s Young Folk Award with her brother Joe. Since then, Henwood has explored the chasms of folk through poetic mirrors, never afraid to incorporate new elements to her always expanding musical vocabulary.
“Seventh” marries electronic and folk music with fresh breaths of genuine artistry in such a way that is akin to, but still apart from the likes of Bon Iver or Gordi. Henwood’s chorus counts out mistakes one by one in a familiar sequential pattern that hits home for listeners, who might otherwise get lost in her dizzyingly attractive, metaphorical verses.
Spin my loop the loop
Spherical in blue
Decorate the truth
Breaks the wheel that steers you.
God damn Capricorn,
I’ve kissed that kind before.
The welcome or the war,
Template ripped and torn.
“It’s about cyclical patterns and repeated mistakes which should have been learnt the first time,” explains Henwood. “It’s about the refreshing strength that exposing your faults can bring. When I sing it, I feel both hopeful and cynical at the same time.”
Henwood’s video reflects an everpresent looming feeling of darkness – the sense of clouds blocking out a sun that’s only a little ways away, but still too far out of reach. We watch Henwood sing emphatically, alone in front of various scenic, colorful backgrounds – a display that amplifies the song’s emotional elements, without overpowering any singular experience.
I know it feels familiar
You recognize the pain
I know it’s why you came here
No comfort found in change.
I know it feels familiar,
Opaque your disguise,
I know it’s why you came here,
Claim your consolation prize.
“We wanted to capture the cynical side of the lyric whilst not detracting from the lighter shades in the production – the different shots represent the seven stages of the chorus,” Henwood says of her video. “I’m incredibly awkward in front of a camera but the lighting almost accentuates that to match the atmosphere of the song.”
Out at the end of the month, River promises to flow with the same mighty force as its namesake. Plunge yourselves into Megan Henwood’s “Seventh” and stay tuned for more from this prolific artist – exclusively on Atwood Magazine.
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photo © 2017
