When you think about it, it’s truly fascinating the way we lose our intense and creative imaginations that thrive in childhood. I suppose we have to, in order to navigate and trudge through, day by day, the hard and complicated world of adulthood. But, what if we still held onto some of that imagination? What could we create? Amy Klein is showing us one possibility.
The musician, best known for her stint as the guitarist of Titus Andronicus from 2009-2011, is on the verge of releasing her sophomore solo effort titled Winter/Time, which taps into a fully-realized inner world that she created as a child. Psychologists call these imaginary worlds paracosms, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters and conventions that can have their own geography, history, and language to make a sophisticated reality.
That balance between reality and the inner world is explored in the video for Winter/Time’s lead single, “Nothing.” The song itself was initially shared nearly a year ago but KEXP is premiering the visuals, which adds depth to the already cinematic brooder. In it, we see Klein trudging through a snowy winter forest, only to be abruptly awakened to “reality,” which sees Klein rush to get to work, finding a slew of masked people along the way. Once there, it appears everyone besides Klein is masked and they’re pushing her to join them. She refuses. We then see the dream Klein and a masked Klein meeting back in the snowy woods, with dream Klein conquering her and ushering in spring, marking a rebirth.
Truly, Winter/Time certainly seems like Klein’s rebirth. Sonically, “Nothing” is not only light years away from her stripped-down singer-songwriter 2016 debut Fire but from anything she’s done in any of her many projects. A lot of that can be attributed to Jeff Zeigler, who Klein sought out to produce the record after falling in love with his work for The War On Drugs’ 2014 record Lost In the Dream. With Zeigler at the helm and a good amount of time between her last projects, Klein had the opportunity to create a new world with intense depth. We’re excited to explore it with her.
No release date has yet been announced for Winter/Time. Watch the video for “Nothing” below.
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