Boyish Navigate a Mental Breakdown in TÁR-Inspired Music Video


Queer indie duo Boyish return with a single and video, "Is This A Breakdown Baby?" The gut-wrenching track was inspired by a nervous breakdown the duo experienced after moving to Los Angeles to pursue music full-time and uses its short yet impactful run time to explore the complex emotions that accompany monumental life changes.

"Is This A Breakdown Baby?" opens with singer Indie Shore asking, "If I were alive / Wonder if I'd feel it," while subdued percussion and warm guitar strums, executed with care by guitarist Claire Altendahl, fill the sonic backdrop. As the track intensifies in tone, Shore expresses her anxiety further, using her dreamy vocals to sing, "I'm so scared of living, but I never stop trying it's complicated." Then, the track reaches a breaking point on the chorus, with Shore realizing she's "falling apart" and having a mental breakdown while aggressive guitar riffs and crashing percussion swarm around her, mimicking the emotional escalation that accompanies an anxiety attack.

The accompanying music video, directed by Aislyn Murray, sees the duo donning complementary suits and wandering the streets of LA and having an existential crisis in a concert hall. The visual takes heavy inspiration from the queer psychological drama TÁR, which tracks an acclaimed conductor's life and mental decline. The video recreates the pinnacle of the movie, where lead actress, Cate Blanchett, tackles her sub conductor amid a performance that was initially meant to be led by her.

The single serves as an update to their 2022 EP My Friend Mica, which they described as a love letter to their friends and family in New York City and detailed their fear of moving away. The band also enjoyed a busy 2022, which saw them release their latest EP, and support acts like spill tab, Wallice, Hippo Campus, MUNA, and more. Boyish are scheduled to release their next EP in the Spring of 2023 in tandem with their first U.S. headline run.

Watch the "Is This A Breakdown Baby?" video below:


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