“Frost Burn” by Half Waif

Half Waif recently released a wintery, and at times bleak visual for her emotive second single “Frost Burn”. Directed by Emily Dubin, the video encapsulates the mindstate Nandi inhabits as the track’s protagonist, having been filmed in precisely the same location that the song was written. Dubin has worked with artists such as PWR BTTM and Pinegrove. Half Waif’s form/a is out now on a limited-edition 12” & digitally.

About the video, producer/songwriter/vocalist Nandi Rose Plunkett explains: “‘Frost Burn’ was filmed at the same house and property where it was written, which is a house in the Berkshires, the region where I grew up. Emily & I decided it would be a good idea to return there to shoot, since the lyrics deal with confronting the past. We took the line from the chorus – “and on my island / I cannot keep out all the violence” – and used that to guide the imagery. We wanted to convey the idea that even when we try to build our own personal islands to protect ourselves from our past, ultimately the violence of our memories cannot be shut out. So there’s the brewing of tea – an act of comfort and coziness – that overlaps with an outdoor picnic in sub-zero weather. And there’s the fort built with blankets, a physically protective structure, that feels hollow and childish in the context of adulthood. In the video, I get to revisit the house where the song was born, while simultaneously reflecting on revisiting my past in that very area, where the woods and the cold and the sweet New England houses trigger so many memories. Standing on the edge of a frozen river in nothing but a dress, internal and external weather assaulting the body and mind.”

The music Nandi Rose Plunkett writes, records and performs under the name Half Waif is deeply personal and engaging, reflecting her lifelong endeavor to reconcile a sense of place. Raised in the bucolic cultural hub of Williamstown, Massachusetts, Nandi was the daughter of an Indian refugee mother and an American father of Irish/Swiss descent. She was one of Williamstown’s only non-white residents. As a kid, she listened to a wide mix of music that included everything from Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, to Celtic songstress Loreena McKennitt and traditional Indian bhajans. In college, she studied classical singing and became enamored with the works of Olivier Messiaen and Claude Debussy. Her output as Half Waif reflects these varying influences, resulting in a richly layered collage of blinking electronic soundscapes, echoes of Celtic melodies and the sad chord changes of 19th-century art music.

Next to her touring schedule as a member of Pinegrove, Half Waif has already self-released two EPs and two albums – a split 7″ with Deerhoof, the Future Joys EP in 2013, and then albums KOTEKAN (produced by Devin Greenwood) in 2014, and Probable Depths (produced by Zubin Hensler) last May.

Cover art for form/a was shot by Adan Carlo and hand-stitched by Chilean artist, María Aparicio Puentes. Half Waif is comprised of Nandi Rose Plunkett, Zack Levine and Adan Carlo.

Half Waif

form/a EP

TRACKLISTING

1. Severed Logic
2. Wave
3. Magic Trick
4. Frost Burn
5. Night Heat
6. Cerulean

LIVE DATES

March
29 – Arts Riot – Burlington, VT
31 – Joe Squared – Baltimore, MD

April
1 – Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
2 – King’s – Raleigh, NC
3 – DC9 – Washington DC
5 – Middle East Upstairs – Boston, MA
6 – The Silent Barn – New York, NY
7 – Everybody Hits – Philadelphia, PA

Posted 29 March 2017
File under: Video of the Day