Xiu Xiu have officially returned with OH NO, an all-star album of duets out today on Polyvinyl. In celebration of the release, the duo have shared the video for “Sad Mezcalita” featuring a cameo from Sharon Van Etten who sings on the track.
Jamie Stewart‘s attempt at a love song, “Sad Mezcalita” marks a noticeably darker turn to OH NO‘s previous singles. The noir-style video for “Sad Mezcalita” personifies the bleak, unsettling elements of the song. Black and white shots of the desert, rain-covered windows, and empty streets all serve as a “tribute to the loss, crime, bleakness, dreams, and tensions” present within the song, according to Xiu Xiu’s Angela Seo who directed the video.
According to Jamie: “Angela said to me, ‘you never write love songs.’ This song tried to do that and failed. To me, it became about how the fear of someone you love being killed or kidnapped or lost in the desert leads to a possessed certainty of those very fates. Wanting and needing and actually feeling love for someone when you know all along that it will end in the worst way imaginable. Sharon seemed like the only person I knew who could pull this conflict off without hesitation. The title is taken from a line in the Otis Redding song ‘I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,’ which is a love song that did not fail in its intent, but is still sad.”
Watch the video for “Sad Mezcalita” directed by Angela Seo below: