Trace
Introducing rising artist Trace who shares her new single & video for “Low”, courtesy of Ultra Music. Feelings that ebb to the lower, jagged edges & surfaces of life’s ever shifting tides are entertained through untouched vocals & restrained electronic components that flutter like fireflies casting bits of brightness in the night’s unforgiving skies. Trace’s new track “Low” is one of the best singles of the year where all the complicated feelings that arrive with the challenge of moving on are dealt with in a kind of head-on approach that does not shy away from all the inherent paradoxes that matters of the heart often yield.
The video for “Low” is entirely composed of split mirror images where Trace alludes to how emotions & expressions translate (or don’t translate) from the inward sanctuary of the spirit to the outward, external character our being. Clever lyrics like “I prefer better, I prefer you” resonate with a mixed up sense of longing where desires become confused in the wake of a former close bond. This very division can be seen personified in the mirror dichotomy shot composition where Trace’s earnest, heartfelt thoughts put to song are visually split in two with an unfiltered honesty.
Trace shared with us the following reflective thoughts on the making of the single “Low” & the visual counterpart:
I first started writing “Low” in January of 2014. The core of the song came from an interaction I had with someone who really let me down. But it was a thing that wasn’t fair on his end since I kind of set him up for failure and in turn set myself up for disappointment. The verses were written but the chorus took some time. It wasn’t until my then producer was transforming this song from an acoustic guitar to the production you hear now. In the early summer, the song started to transform into something a bit more cheeky. So the verses, I prefer better, though I prefer you, kind of unearthed and really framed the whole song to what it is; it’s about being low and liking it there.
When I met with my friend/director Claire, we had some dreamy mood boards for the music video and we ended up shooting two versions. The one you see kind of spoke more truth to the song in that it’s about the power of mirroring ourselves. Do we reflect what you feel on the inside, outside? I think “Low” is one of my most honest pieces of writing and it just made sense to have the visual component be this initially simple—maybe mundane—one shot but incorporating the complexities and hopefully interest of something—the closer you get to it. Or my other thought would be, I’m a Gemini, and I’m terribly fickle so there’s that.
