Amelia Rahayu Murray, or Fazerdaze as she is known by is a New Zealand singer songwriter who is recognised for her surrealist and shoegaze influence, a sub-genre of indie and alternative rock music. She is also a producer herself, having self-produced her first self-titled EP back in 2014. However, the artist has also signed with Flying Nun Records for her first and only album, Morningside back in 2017, and Partisan Records for her EP Break! that released in October of last year. The artist gained recognition after her album Morningside became an unexpected hit, having found success particularly with the track Lucky Girl that is currently her most viewed song on Spotify, having garnered over 18million views alone.
Music Video: Winter
The music video for the artists song Winter is all shot entirely on location as the artist stands about or walks around, shots that are recognisable with Indie music due to their low budgets. This does create atmosphere in a sense, which for a song titled Winter makes this really fitting and appealing. However, the imagery we typically imagine when asked to describe Winter is juxtaposed in the music video, as instead of a perfect white Christmas and Christmas decorations and lights, we get a more realistic interpretation of bleak, harsh colours and gloomy weather as seen with the stormy clouds and natural lighting, reflecting the moody nature and low vibes of the artists catalogue, which in terms makes the video much more relatable to watch. The video released in November last year to coincide with her new EP, Break! after a long break of creating new material, suggesting just how impacting her music is to her small, but loyal fanbase of listeners, and gives the artist a sense of maintainability and power, showing how as a female artist she can still can back and recognise what her audience expect from her music, as she is still experimenting with a shoe-gaze sound she became recognisable for.
The mise en scene of winter is also reflected elsewhere, whether this be the artists outfit she has on with the coat and jeans, but also the umbrella and hints of green and read lighting that are colours symbolic of winter and the seasonal period. Her orange coat is one of the only signs of warmth in the video, making the song and Fazerdaze that more calming and responsive to listen to. The attention to costume is also something I need to think of for my video, as it is the gateway for creating atmosphere and understanding of the song + videos vibes and expectations of the artist, as her chill outfit is another relatable part of the video.
There are a lot of CU shots of the artist in the video, and aside from the odd car passing by is really the only person in the music video, emphasising the independence the artist has with her reputation and her music, something she has shown already by self-producing her first ever album. The artist also embraces this towards the end as the song fades out, we get a W/S of the artist walking alone through a dark street, embracing her independence as an artist and taking pride in her work.
When entering the artists website, audiences are immediately granted with photos of the artist, allowing us to learn more about the artist such as her personality type, interests and moods which can strengthen the relationship between us and the artist, and how we listen to her music. Towards the bottom, there are links to her socials such as TikTok and Instagram, showing just how relevant her presence has become. This can also be seen with the link that takes you to the tour section of the website, with a list long enough to scroll down a bit to find more dates, showing how popular she has become and how relevant and relatable her music is to her audience who are likely to be a majority of teenage girls.
There are also links that take you to some of the music videos of her songs, and another that takes you to a page which lists all the streaming services you can listen to her new latest EP, Break! actively encouraging her audience to listen to her latest work and continue to seek out her catalogue. There is a link that takes you to a shopping page to purchase her vinyl's and t-shirts, another example of the artist embracing her vintage look seen through her sound. and a page listing New Zealand, Australian and other prices, telling us not only that fame hasn't got to her head and she is proud of her heritage, but also that she embraces as many people to listen to her catalogue of songs and she appreciates all of her fans across the globe.
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