Sydney punk acts A Swift Farewell and Clay J Gladstone have joined forces for the collaboration of your dreams. Their new single “Stressed Out” perfectly showcases everything that makes these two local acts so special. If you’re feeling frustrated or struggling in any way today, you’re going to want to turn the volume all the way up on this one.
“The song is about not expressing emotions and often hiding and burying feelings until it gets too much.” A Swift Farewell explained. “We wanted to show our darker side with this track, as we felt our two previous singles were a fair bit more pop-influenced and mid-tempo. Funnily enough, its working title was actually ‘angry boi’.”
Creating the film clip at Marrickville’s Sydney Props Studio was a labour of love, according to A Swift Farewell frontwoman Emma Mather.
“We built the set ourselves,” she said. “It was a hustle! First, we had to build huge panels of fake grass. It represents the chaotic ‘inside’ of that same person who’s pretending they’re fine but hiding all their bad feelings. Then, at the end of the video, we tried representing ‘getting buried’ by having people throw gardening soil at us while we played. We thought this was a good idea, but it was so painful as the soil was getting into our eyes and mouths and clothes.”
A Swift Farewell will support the release of “Stressed Out” with a show at the Burdekin Hotel on March 27 supporting Heroes for Hire. If you heard the buzz when they supported FANGZ, Headstrong, or Cambridge, you’ll want to check this gig out.
Image used with permission from Good Intent; photo credit: Robbie Walcott