Heartbreaking Bravery

Over the past seven weeks, there hasn’t been a lot of regular coverage on this site. There’s a long list of reasons behind that which can all be condensed into this: Heartbreaking Bravery’s a one-person operation and life’s kept me a lot busier than usual. To amend the coverage gaps, three large recaps ran yesterday. Throughout the week, there’ll be “best of” lists that cover those three main categories: streams, music videos, and full streams. To break the monotony up a little, there’ll also be a trio of individual pieces running on some of the very best material to have appeared over the past seven weeks, starting with site favorites Charly Bliss and their note-perfect video for “Westermarck”.

Directed by Andrew Costa — who was also at the helm for the “Ruby“, “Percolator“, and “Black Hole” clips — “Westermarck” finds the band newly positioned and brimming with a confident joy that translates well to screen. While Costa was able to hint at the band’s outsize playfulness on the previous two directorial outings, the clip for “Westermarck” goes beyond just hints and expertly conveys the band’s entire identity. It’s virtually unmatched by any of the previous videos from either Costa or the group’s prior visual collaborator, Christopher George (who ably executed the visual accompaniments for Soft Serve).

Reportedly loosely inspired by the Jonas Brothers’ Disney vehicle Camp Rock, “Westermarck” makes excellent use of a playground setting and allows the band to revel in just enjoying life. Combating depression, loneliness, insecurity, and weariness with a resilient positivity and healthy relationships with empathetic people was the underlying crux of the narrative that runs through Guppy, the band’s debut full-length and Album of the Year contender on which “Westermarck” appears, and is subtly conveyed throughout the visual treatment they’ve afforded “Westermarck”.

Josh Kanuck provided the clip with a worn colorization that balances pastels with more rustic leanings and plays up the nostalgia factor that peers through a lot of the band’s work, doubling down on the clip’s overall effectiveness (Charly Bliss has always been able to marry youth with hard-won knowledge and to be able to allude to that theme with the use of color is an incredibly clever touch). More than anything else, though, microanalysis aside, “Westermarck” stands as another perfect example of what virtually guaranteed this site would be spilling a lot of digital ink in following Charly Bliss’ exploits: it’s a deeply sincere affirmation of pure feeling.

Whether the band’s getting their faces painted, careening around on a skateboard, playing guitar while slacklining, dancing on tables, batting an inflatable ball around together, lighting sprinklers, or playing through the song on some docks or in a cabin, there’s a sense that the band — and a small group of friends — are enjoying the living hell out of every moment they have together.

At the end of the day — especially in an environment rife with projected detachment — it’s incredibly important to not only be reminded of the virtues that Charly Bliss so readily espouses but to see those virtues in action. While their last two records remain untouchable works of art, “Westermarck” just might go down as their definitive statement. Hit play and get swept up in Charly Bliss’ irrepressible joy.

Watch “Westermarck” (and watch them play through the song last year in Minneapolis) below and pick up Guppy from Barsuk here.