MUSIC

GRAE Releases New Music Video for "Fade to Black"

The Canadian pop artist's latest video is a contemplative exploration of childhood and pain, with balanced songwriting and powerful sound.

Courtesy of the Artist

GRAE's music video for her latest single, "Fade to Black," has stirring visuals complementing the track's dark, spacious sound.

The Canadian artist just released her debut EP, New Girl, an infectious, hard-edged pop affair, a project that closes with the pensive sadness of "Fade to Black." The song, featuring a ghostly drawn-out piano dancing through a string arrangement and booming synths, is a retrospective on GRAE's frayed relationship with her mother. She recalls moments of pain and fear amid childhood innocence. "This is no way for a child to live," GRAE whisper-sings to a mother struggling with alcoholism, just before the chorus pulls the song's curtain back. What's particularly affecting is that the song does not feel embittered or resentful: GRAE's vocals are measured, and her songwriting is generous. The track is an even balance between pain and love.

GRAE - Fade To Blackwww.youtube.com

The music video smartly gives the song room to breathe. Old childhood pictures and home videos of the artist as a little girl flicker across the screen, interspersed with visuals of GRAE now as she's lost in thought. With muted colors and a bare bones narrative, the video feels deeply contemplative, allowing memories and moments to speak for themselves. The emotional stakes of "Fade to Black" are high, but that makes GRAE's gentleness even more meaningful.