I’ve been enamored with the bilingual Los Angeles psych-soul quintet, The Marías, for some time now and my love continues to grow with their video release for ABQ from their second EP Superclean Vol. II.
Recently, we wrote about mental health in pop culture and how “there’s been a growing number of outspoken artists who have opened up about their own struggles whether it’s expressing their stygian times of severe exhaustion or anxiety that touring musicians/artists face. It’s something that is glossed over due to the imagery of commercial success and that ‘Instagram life,’ which can be very misleading.” Lead vocalist/guitarist María reflects that sentiment penning the track while traveling in a van on the band’s first tour.
The video was directed, produced, written and edited by María and Ian Lipton and features black-cloaked women in hooded capes surrounding María like a sinister shadow. The YouTube description perfectly explains it as..
“This is what anxiety feels like.”
As someone who struggles with anxiety, it’s truly how it feels. An imminent, often crippling, ominous shadow that follows you around. Although anxiety is not something that just goes away on its own, it is something that can be managed with help.
