SOAK (Bridie Monds-Watson) has premiered the video for her latest single “Reckless Behaviour”, taken from her debut album Before We Forgot How To Dream. The album was shortlisted for the 2015 Mercury Prize – with SOAK the youngest female nominee in seven years – and SOAK was also recently nominated for a Q Award for Best New Act, and she won both the Northern Irish Music Prize and the European Border Breaker Award this year.

Director Bob Gallagher (who has also made memorable videos for Rough Trade labelmates Girl Band) writes, about the video and SOAK’s music: “when I first saw SOAK perform a few years ago, the thing that struck me most was that there is a really tangible sense of empathy to Bridie’s songwriting. You get the impression that she’s writing for someone, in a way that’s genuinely very caring and reassuring. I tried to get that sense of empathy across in the older character played by Fiona York; she is a thief so she’s very observant. I think she sees elements of herself in the younger character played by Dani Hiro. The video is about what two people observe in each other and how that makes them relate in a way that transcends their difference in age or their backgrounds.”

Having met up with Monds-Watson in Dublin to talk through the themes and concepts, the video for “Reckless Behaviour” evolved into a wider conversation on mental health for young people in Ireland, Gallagher explained. “Those connections between people are what help you to get well and stay healthy, so I hope the video goes some way towards illustrating that.”