Whenever I’m asked to check out a band, or a friend sends me music, I’m always hesitant to check it out. What if I don’t like it? What do I say if I don’t? What even is my music taste if we’re being completely honest? So, when I was given the task of checking out the new Sevendust music video for their single ‘Holy Water’, that same hesitation came back. What if I don’t like it? This is the first time I’ve come across Sevendust in general let alone heard some of their tracks, so as I sat down with that same question repeating itself in my head, I hit play…
It was right around the 0:12 second mark though where that question just went away entirely. Sevendust’s latest track ‘Holy Water’ is a lyrical powerhouse of introspection whose visuals tell the narrative perfectly: how easy the lines can become blurred between ally and enemy when dealing with mental health.
When dealing with a concept like this, I was really curious about what direction they would go in for the music video; something straight forward, or something more in line with the “short film” approach. With brilliantly penned lyrics like, “I feel a darkness inside, It's buried deep but alive, Why do I love it so much?” and, “You fed the flames of the fire, To watch it burn me alive, The reasons I'll never know,” I expected it to be the latter. Instead, it’s an amazingly “simple” setup of handheld shots with each member isolated in black that’s only interrupted by a single key light that’s constantly changing from a cold blue to a warm orange; a simple trick that turned ‘Holy Water’ into one of my favorite music videos of 2023 so far.
I mention the lighting specifically cause when we look at something like color theory in film, each color is used to convey a certain feeling/emotion to the viewer (i.e., Blue = Cold, Isolation, Melancholy vs. Orange = Warmth, Balance, Vibrance). It’s such a small concept, but it perfectly depicts the conflict Lejon Witherspoon writes about and does so in way that doesn’t take away or distract you from the music – but rather elevates it to an amazing result.
So do yourself a favor, go check out the video for ‘Holy Water’ and be sure to check out their new album Truth Killer dropping on July 28th!