When a music video is a statement piece, it summarizes the whole of an artist’s identity with visuals as much as it does a soundtrack, and in the case of Free Your Self’s new single and video “If It Takes Your Breath Away,” it could be said that the up and coming singer/songwriter breaks off one of the more vivid statement releases of 2020 thus far. Striking away from his hipster contemporaries in favor of embracing something uniquely provocative and aesthetically leftist in all the right ways, Free Your Self dedicates his sound to the barebones melodicism of a bygone era in this latest release and somehow winds up sounding more relevant and present in the modern direction of surreal pop than most any of his closet rivals have in years.
The main vocal harmony in this single is ghostly but endearing, evading the swaggering push of the string play just enough to have its own place in the big picture of the song. The lyrics feel separated from the voice conveying them on a couple of different occasions here, but it’s worth pointing out that the narrative never sounds removed from the artist sewing it together with his words. The melodic faceting of this composition indicates far more about the deeper-rooted emotions in the story than words ever could have on their own, and in the context of the music video, I think the instrumentation can be credited with defining the essence of “If It Takes Your Breath Away” more than any singular shot or verse would.
I really like the compelling use of the percussive component in this mix, and while it doesn’t get as much love from behind the board as it could have with a different producer at the helm of the project, I prefer this formula to the mainstream counterpart by leaps and bounds. There’s nothing wrong about utilizing the limited look when it actually does something to magnify the subtleties of your artistry, and in “If It Takes Your Breath Away” we’re actually given the opportunity to get up close and personal with a juxtaposition crucial to the design of a player’s entire style of music. It’s transcendent of his discography and more a contribution to the conversation his scene has been engaged in for years now, and that alone makes it a worthwhile spin for music enthusiasts like myself.
Though I only just found out about the music of Free Your Self recently, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t feeling pretty excited about what he’s been producing in his most recent trip to the recording studio. “If It Takes Your Breath Away” is a song that teases us with fleeting alternative inspirations potentially unnoticeable in the other material he’s released thus far, and if that element gets cultivated a little more than it already has been in this instance, I think we’re going to be talking about the creator of this all-new single and music video a lot more in 2021.
Troy Johnston