This is Video of the Week from Wales Arts Review. We’ll be showcasing some of the best art in Wales with a new video shared every week. From music to drama and everything in between, videos will not be limited by medium. This week we’re looking at the music video for ‘Real Life’, the latest release from Welsh-born singer Art School Girlfriend, coinciding with the release of her second album.
We’re heralding the start of September with a music video from a singer whose voice manages to convey a warmth and depth of emotion that will get you all set for autumn. Art School Girlfriend (a.k.a. Welsh-born singer Polly Mackey) is back with her new album Soft Landing and ‘Real Life’ marks the fourth release from an album which manages to combine pop, dance music and electronica.
‘Real Life’ continues Mackey’s exploration of the themes of euphoria and finding new meaning in life, developing the ideas laid out in earlier releases ‘Heaven Hanging Low’ and a ‘A Place to Lie’. There’s a distinctly melancholy feel to the video, which captures the frustration of a yearning to move forward and regain a connection with the wider world.
Soft Landing builds on the release of Mackey’s first album as Art School Girlfriend, Is It Light Where You Are released during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Recorded partly at the Crouch End’s Church Studios with co-producer Riley MacIntyre and partly at home, Soft Landing continues to blend different forms of pop and electronica to dramatic effect. It’s an evocative release from an artist starting to forge her own path within the alternative music scene.
Soft Landing and ‘Real Life’ are both available to stream now through all the usual streaming platforms. Further information and tickets for Art School Girlfriends’ forthcoming tour are available via her website.
