Sarah P.
The always incredible Sarah P.; photographed by Schall & Schnabel.
Continuing our coverage of Sarah P. (fka Keep Shelly In Athens), the artist brings us an exclusive & insightful look at her illustrious three part music video cycle for her single “Golden Deer” from Berlin’s visual art team Schnall & Schnabel. Found off her breakthrough debut EP Free, Sarah presents three alternate passages into an alternate dream world where kaleidoscopic pop-art designs & textures encapsulate the artist into an electronic European forest of fascination & ineffable delights. Act I for “Golden Deer” finds Sarah entering the forests of illusion as the prisms frame & encase our heroine. Act II for “Golden Deer” is something of a contemporary Euro-pop rave of sophistication that would surely garner the envy of the Material Girl herself. For Act III of “Golden Deer”, Sarah P.’s artistic dance moves are illuminated in overexposed lights that blend all the blue & red hues together as the entire event becomes mystical in the same way that abstract memories leftover from visions of the unconscious continue their cryptic dalliances in the awakened mind’s eye.
Pierre Horn & Eileen Huhn from Schall & Schnabel provided the following insights on the making of the videos:
With our video, we visualize a dream. The colors, the pictures, the visual elements layer and in their multiplication a crazy interaction, and new associations. Some sequences remind of coral reefs, others of a kaleidoscope. A very own, powerful, poppy, and experimental image language and dynamic was created, bringing an atmosphere that is charming and playful at the same time.
Sarah P. shared the following generous preface & subsequent introduction for each of the three “golden Deer” acts with the following candid perspectives:
“Golden Deer” was inspired by a dream I had about this deer leading me to a magical forest where everything was possible. I guess, following the deer symbolized tearing down the fences I’ve built around me because of my fears. Throughout Free there has been this steady but slow walk towards the light. If “Dirty Sunday” that serves as the opener of the EP is dark and heavy, “Golden Deer”, the final song, is like an excited heart that’s pumping for the new beginnings.
It’s all about the person who goes to sleep, the “dreamer”, as I like to call him/her. Because everybody dreams of something in the end, even if they don’t remember it in the morning. Funny thing all people have in common.
Berlin by Athens icon, Sarah P.; photographed by Christoph Neumann.
Act 1
“Golden Deer, you run free—away from here, where you go is a mystery.
In my land, in my fantasy, I come with you—you show me my destiny.
Beautiful scheme—I shouldn’t have been here, I shook up my fears.
Hide & seek—my scheme became sheer, I smell love and myrrh.
I see you in the dark so clear, your golden color paints my tears.”The dreamer goes to bed. The dreamer is still at the first stages of sleep, kind of trying to manipulate his/her subconscious. Everything seems clearer. Almost real, Almost tangible. There is at least some basic coherence—whatever coherence means when one finally closes their eyes after a hard day of work. Slowly the colors start fading and the dreamer, hypnotized and tired of trying to avoid attachments and feelings, allows him/herself to curl up in Morpheus’ arms.
Sarah P. – Golden Deer (feat. Hiras) in Act 1 deliver kaleidescopic visuals from the team of Schnall & Schnabel.
Act 2
“We move, we dance, we fall apart—we’re drunken souls in one heart.”
Stages 3 & 4 of sleep. The dreamer is now deep in sleep, walking towards the dream land. Everything seems so serene. The dreamer’s breath has slowed down, the dreamer’s pulse is normal, his/her body temperature has cooled down. He/She is ready for the crazy adventure that’s called dreaming. The dreamer is like a rocket that’s about to launch and explore the universe.
Act 3
“Hold on me—maybe we see something—I don’t know what that could be.
Stay with me and maybe we see something—I don’t know what that could be.
Just stay with me—stay with me—maybe we see something I don’t know.”The REM has begun and so did the peculiar tricks of the dreamer’s mind. Colors and events pop out of nowhere, welcoming the dreamer to the best and most exciting part of his/her sleep. Let the trip begin, let the journey start with shapes and reflections that surely have a meaning if one looks them up. The only condition that’s set reads that the dreamer has to remember what happened during his/her dream. But will he/she? Will he/she remember?
The exquisite world of Sarah P.; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Today Sarah P. followed up last year’s solo debut Free with the invitational request to rediscover affection of the requited variety and more on “Teach Me How To Love” that features production from South-African artist Wisani. Since the Berlin-based artist left her former group Keep Shelly in Athens, Sarah has been collaborating with the Bilinda Butchers, Sun Glitters, Mmoths, The New Division, and more, all the while launching her own imprint EraseRestart. The pop singer continues to sew real feelings & perspectives into carefully woven textures of high end dance designs that underscore everything that brings the independent international communities of artists & music lovers closer together with heart.
As with each and every Sarah P. single, the pop canons and history books of musical matron leaders and electro matriarchs of the past & present are continually challenged & updated with every uttered lyric/note/bar & beat. “Teach Me How To Love” is more than just a soap opera play of passions on fire but rather an opportunity to discover new connections, paths of new proportions, and the hope for new & greater realizations. Reiterations of “again” and questions of “will you take me there, where the beauty never ends” seeks something greater than environments & states of despair for a new outlook & getting reacquainted with the formerly felt sentiments of endearment that reaches for a bond even greater than the one experience previously. With the excited notion of “the world can be our wonderland”, Sarah displays what dreams & beauty that might arrive in a shimmering splendor of sound that rains down in a hail of rhinestone keys, gems, rubies, emeralds, and genuine feels galore.
Sarah P. shared the following exclusive introduction with us all about the new single:
This song is a collaboration between the great dance/deep house producer Wisani and me. Although it’s a tad different from the rest of my work, “Teach Me How To Love” closes the chapter of a music era for me in the most celebratory way. My wish is that this song puts a smile on everyone’s face, that it gets hummed a lot. My utter wish is that we turn all madness we live upside down and make our world a better place. During these times when everyday’s daily news top up the one’s from yesterday in ugliness and cruelty, it’s totally up to us to seek harder for the light. It’s who we are- humans are survivors and, no matter what, we shall not lose hope. It’s up to us to make it right – starting from today by re-learning how to love!
