Jordan Wilson, of indie-folk duo Georgia Fair, has stepped out on his own and is set to release his first solo single ‘Totem’ and its accompanying music video on June 10th.
Fortunately for Rolling Stone Australia readers, you can watch the clip right now as we’re premiering the emotionally reflective yet comically captivating video today.
Fittingly, the video sees Wilson unaccompanied in front of a range of backdrops. He dances around a Hills Hoist washing line, waltzes with his dog and sings his heart out from the couch. Suffice to say, this clip is as authentically nostalgic-Australian as it can get.
In stark difference to the uplifting indie-pop Georgia Fair are known for, ‘Totem’ brings us a new, darker side of Wilson’s songwriting, showcasing a more vulnerable, more moving Wilson than we’ve previously seen.
“This song is about a long relationship that ended pretty abruptly and quickly, and it created a real sense of loss and confusion in my life – but music helped to mitigate the void that it created, in some kind of way,” he says.
“The idea is that the process of writing, and the song itself, is the Totem – something that you can use to hang on to and worship, so to speak.”
Gentle strums of acoustic guitar layered with understated keys bring a level of softness and comfort to the track, and artfully allows Wilson’s poignant vocals and evocative lyrics to become front and centre.
Directed by Odin Umeofia, the video is less melancholy than you’d expect upon hearing the song. In addition to Wilson’s charmingly rigid dance moves and the nostalgic backdrop of a typical Aussie backyard, the clip features highly saturated colours which bring a lighter viewpoint to the song.
“In the clip I’m ripping out a bunch of pages from some classic literature – sort of showing the pursuit of self-discovery through the human language. Then there’s a beautiful release where I string up all the pages on the Hills Hoist and ‘air it out’, so to speak…with the leaf blower,” Wilson explains.
Juggling his new solo project alongside an album-in-the-making for Georgia Fair, Wilson is also set to release his first book of stories, poems and illustrations, Some Short, Some Long, later this year.
