Sometimes the strangest imagery can be paired with a song and end up making a lot of sense. Such a thing goes for Broken Water’s video for “1984,” the third track off of their most recent grainy album Wrought, which came out just last month. The video features spliced together footage from a bunch of different security cameras, and is intended to “tackle the issue of surveillance culture” (and is also not so subtly shouting out George Orwell?). Anyway, consider the issue tackled. “1984” is easily the most fuzzy and melancholic track from the album—with a serious Cocteau Twins vibe (minus the whole not being able to understand the lyrics thing). The whole video is pretty unsettling and kind of creepy, but I guess that’s the point. It also made me think about how sweet it would be to be a security guard and listen to shoegaze exclusively while watching people break into buildings. Watch Broken Water’s video for “1984” below and see for yourself.
Broken Water Live Dates:
Videos by VICE
5/25: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios (w/ Speedy Ortiz, Alex G)
6/29: Providence, RI @ Aurora