JUST LIKE ME (Single + Video)

Source - Supplied

There’s something a little disarming about Sarah Yagki’s new song, Just Like Me. Yagki has opened songs softly before, but there’s something new in the performance here; there’s an edge of subdued shock and disbelief that underpins the track. That’s because the subject matter is probably the darkest of any in her burgeoning discography. In her own words, it tells of “the unraveling of the day I watched someone I loved hurt themselves in a manic episode”. Even for an artist whose bread and butter is twisted love and dangerous heartbreak, this one is dark.

Numbness and shock are key themes, which are translated directly into the deceptively simple arrangement of the first half of the track. Some deft production on the part of Yianni Adams keeps the song moving along without it ever feeling staid or dull and instead lends intrigue as to where it’s all building. To give the game away now, it builds to something enormous; one of the most scorching final choruses in recent memory. The manic, helpless desperation that’s been hinted at throughout is now on full display, raw trauma bared for all to see through the vessel of Yagki’s pleading vocals. Let the cavernous drums and fiery synths whisk you away into the depths, into the scene where it all occurred. It’s harrowing, catchy and a riotously good listen.

So how do you couple it to a music video? Hire an expert film crew and an insanely talented dancer, of course. The quality of the cinematography is a cut above what you’d normally expect from a self-made, independent artist, with a colour palette that’s simultaneously cold and inviting. Dancer Marcya Fugawai proves an unstoppable manic force, twisting and contorting as the song hits its peak. For a wholly self-sufficient, underground production, the video is a triumph, harmonising with the original song’s emotional depths. Get some label money behind Yagki and you’ll be guaranteed an artistic international phenomenon within seconds.

Listen and watch Just Like Me here.