Photo by Eleanor Petry

The origin story behind Water From Your Eyes’ “True Life”, the second standout from the Brooklyn experimental pop duo’s Matador debut, Everyone’s Crushed, is like going down the rabbit hole of capitalism’s domino effect on art, in a defensive sense (Sidenote: are you sensing a theme here?) Though Rachel Brown and Nate Amos are hardly a band you’d define as commercially accessible, the pair take a few cues from music culture in deconstructing mass appeal in their own fluid mold. Background riffs scrape the barrel of the apish confrontational energy that is the undying influence of nu-metal. It’s bridge – initially intended to interpolate lyrics from “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young, who himself has been a critic of capitalism while also benefitting by the millions from it – is now a commentary on he and his legal team not letting the band use the words in a song that is theirs, sounding unlike anyone else. Throughout it all, Brown’s words are searching, turning corner after corner while never meeting an end. That’s the reality of trying to create authentic in a world where everyone’s stake in money-making doubles as a threat to it.

Directed by: Rachel Brown

Water From Your Eyes’ Everyone’s Crushed will be released May 26th on Matador Records.