Tag: VIdeo Review: Rise

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Terciopelo Shares Brooding Yet Radio Friendly “Rise”

Terciopelo is the solo recording project of a mysterious and emerging Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist, who blends diverse instrumental elements, trap beats, jazz and soulful melodies into a unique and moody sound that has been described as thought provoking.

The mysterious Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist’s forthcoming full-length debut, The Breakaways sees him collaborating with a talented and diverse group of female vocalists. Thematically, the album focuses on women and their journeys through life — with each vocalist singing lyrics that detail the trials, tribulations and joys of their life through their perspective. The album’s material delves into the depths of passion, love and all of the various aspects of human life. 

“This album represents a significant chapter in my musical journey,” the Costa Rican producer and artist says. The Breakaways is not just a music album, it’s a celebration of life, love and the magnetic power of music. We poured our hearts into every note, and we hope it resonates with our audience on a profound level.”

Over the past handful of months, I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:

  • “Your Love . . .,” a brooding and slickly produced synthesis of Portishead-like trip hop, trap beats and contemporary electro pop paired with yearning vocals and evocative lyrics. The song thematically is a deep dive into the lives of women trapped in abusive romantic relationships. The song’s narrator paints a poignant and haunting picture of the internal and external struggles that domestic abuse victims face with a seemingly lived-in specificity. 

  • “Nothing Can Stop Me,” a slickly produced track that pairs contemporary pop with trap beats, shimmering acoustic guitar, bursts of twinkling Rhodes with a soulful vocal, pop starlet delivery. Much like its predecessor, the song captures the interior world of its narrator with an uncanny attention to psychological detail.

  • “Hey Boy,” a slick mix of strutting Brazilian and Latin jazz, featuring some fantastic solos paired with skittering trap beats and a coquettishly sultry vocal. The song — and in turn, the video — sees the woman boldly taking change, and shooting her shot.

The Breakaways‘ latest single “Rise” features a brooding Massive Attack-like trip hop inspired production and trap beats, bursts of Middle Eastern-styled instrumentation and electro pop to create a radio friendly bit of global-tinged pop anchored by a gorgeous, soulful vocal.

The song and the accompanying video tells the story of Anya Petrovna. Born into poverty in a small Eastern European village, Petrovna dreams of becoming a world-class ballerina. With no formal training and only an old pair of ballet slippers handed down from her grandmother, she teaches herself to dance by watching grainy videos on a borrowed phone. Every night, she practices in secret, her movements graceful yet raw, fueled by determination. Anya’s life changes when a traveling ballet instructor, Madame Kovalenko, visits her town and notices her extraordinary talent. Against all odds, Anya is given a scholarship to a prestigious ballet academy in the capital. There, she faces fierce competition, cultural barriers, and the ever-looming threat of failure. Struggling to keep up with wealthier, better-trained peers, she battles self-doubt and exhaustion. Yet Anya refuses to give up. With relentless perseverance, she wins over skeptics, perfecting her technique through sheer willpower and passion. When she is chosen to perform the lead at a world-renowned theater, she knows this is her moment to prove herself. On opening night, Anya dances as if the stage were the only world she’s ever known. Her performance captivates audiences and critics alike, placing her in an elite class of ballerinas of which only a handful exist. Yet her journey is not just about success—it is about resilience, sacrifice, and the unbreakable spirit of a girl who dared to dream beyond the limits of her world.

The accompanying visualizer features a dancer dancing in outer space with the celestial bodies behind her.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alison Mosshart’s Self-Directed and Edited Visual for Ominous Solo Debut “Rise”

Alison Mosshart is a Vero Beach, FL-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter a best known as one-half of the acclaimed indie rock act JOVM mainstays The Kills and for being the frontwoman of the indie rock/blues punk supergroup The Dead Weather. Interestingly, over the past decade or so, Mosshart has developed a reputation for being restlessly creative: she has had paintings shown in galleries across the world and she recently published her first book CAR MA, a collection of her art, photography and writing that serves as a love letter to all things automobile. Additionally, Mosshart has developed a reputation for being a go-to collaborator for that added dash of badassery, working with her Dead Weather bandmate Jack White, Arctic Monkeys, Primal Scream, Gang of Four, Cage The Elephant, Foo Fighters, James Williamson and Mini Mansions in a rapidly growing list. 

2020 will continue a period of remarkably creative prolificacy for Mosshart: Currently, Mosshart and her bandmate Jamie Hince are working on the next Kills record, which they hope to be able to bring to the road — pandemic willing, of course. Interestingly, this year also see Mosshart stepping out into the spotlight as a solo artist, releasing material under her name for the first time in her career. And although for Mosshart, releasing music under her own name is a new and thrilling experience, it’s a process that can be traced back more than a decade with Mosshart compiling a trove of unreleased material. Her debut single, the Lawrence Rothman-produced “Rise” can trace its origins back to 2013 when she first wrote the initial sketch of the song.  The end result is a slow-burning and searing blues with brooding and ominous undertones centered around thumping beats, fuzzy power chords, Mosshart’s imitable vocals and a soaring hook. 

“I didn’t ever forget it,” Mosshart recalls. “I remember right where I was when I wrote it, sitting at my desk in London, missing someone badly. Interestingly, when the Sacred Lies team reached out to the Kills and Dead Weather frontwoman about doing a signature song for the song, she knew “Rise” had the right sort of vibe for the show. Interestingly, “Rise” is prominently featured in the final episode of  the FacebookWatch drama Sacred Lies with the song serving as a major plot point within the series’ story. 

Much like everyone else across the world, Mosshart is hunkered down in her Nashville home and she’s used this period of social distancing and quarantine to teach herself video editing. Shot, edited and directed by Mosshart, the recently released video for “Rise” is comprised of footage from a recent trip she took to Los Angeles with most of it centered around capturing lowrider culture.