Focus Your Audio deliver an unforgettable experience with their stunning new 360° video for their haunting and poignant single The Long Goodbye — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
When words fail, symbolism takes over. And the West Vancouver duo know a thing or two about symbolism — their new clip for The Long Goodbye is an extended visual metaphor for the ravages of dementia, as represented by a living room that’s progressively being stripped of its contents. Sarah Stewart and Bobby McAloney deliver the song’s sad lament while the camera spins slowly around them; each time it completes another cycle, more knick-knacks and pieces of furniture are missing and the light grows dimmer. Amid that unfolding portrait, Stewart’s refrain is a plea against the inevitable: “Stay with me tonight.”
The song was inspired by a woman Stewart knew, a single mother who graduated from med school at age 60, only to find herself facing mental decline. But the sentiments expressed in the tune and video apply to a multitude of cases, including ones Stewart encountered in her former job as a nurse: “Every time I listen to this song, it’s like the first time,” she says. “I go through all of the emotions of watching loved ones empty themselves over and over again in the walking out of their own long goodbye.”
Filmed at QuestCoast Studios in Richmond, and written and directed by Cheyenne Rouleau, the video was captured in one take, thanks to painstakingly applied ingenuity. The camera made three rotations of the room while the set crew furtively removed furniture, paintings, rugs and other symbols of a life well lived. A fake wall was created so the team could take large pieces of furniture through and close it quickly before the camera panned by again. “Everyone needed to learn their places,” the bandmembers say. “And like a dance, each of us moved through the space, catching the camera at the right moment, with the right changes to the room, with the right lighting, not capturing an extra foot or casting a shadow on the wall in the frame.”
The group took equal care while recording the song at Vancouver’s Studio Y and Hipposonic Recording Studio under the supervision of producer/engineer Mike Young (bassist for Mother Mother). The sparse arrangement spotlights Stewart’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and McAloney’s acoustic guitar, with cellist Peggy Lee adding an extra dimension of gravitas.
Focus Your Audio burst on to the scene In 2019 with their debut EP. Since then, their singles Shades, Over There and On Your Own have racked up more than 300,000 streams. Their music has been featured on the playlist for the film The Half of It, and On Your Own garnered global attention when Swedish DJ and producer StoneBridge (Ne-Yo, Beyonce) remixed it. Focus Your Audio have shared the stage with the likes of Tobias the Owl, Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar.
Check out the video for The Long Goodbye and a behind-the-scenes doc above, hear more from Focus Your Audio below, and say hello to them on their website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
