Finding a speck of color in the drab days of our current climate can be a herculean task sometimes – the unrelenting onslaught of horrors big and small takes a toll on one’s conscience and mental health. And yet, the familiar everyday holds its own moments of exhilaration, replenishing our hope against all odds. Just like the night eventually relents to the coming of dawn, so does the world with all its flaws to the slivers of beauty found strewn across the fields of consciousness. Today, one of those slivers is called Ghost Marrow.
The project of one Aurielle Zeitler, known for her collaboration with fellow singer-songwriters such as Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle, Ghost Marrow comes cloaked in solitary darkness but carrying an ember of innermost hope. Zeitler’s hauntingly atmospheric take on ambient pop relies heavily on the classic Juno-60 synthesizer and its timeless qualities. Her 2023 album earth + death was warmly received by Everything Is Noise, so we are happy to have her back for the premiere of her latest music video. It’s for the earth + death track “Might of the Small”, and it was shot on Super 8 film by Amber Padgett.
To me, “Might of the Small” brings together the synthesizer-based minimalism of the ’80s Japanese kankyō ongaku movement and the vocal-centric ambient pop of artists such as Grouper and Julianna Barwick (one might even cite Enya as a reference point here, sans the overly glossy veneer). It’s an austere yet ruggedly beautiful aesthetic that lends itself well to a moment of reflection.
‘”Might of the Small” is lush with analog synths and moments of pointed chaos, so it felt important to compliment this song with a video entirely shot on Super 8 film with very little post production. I wanted quiet visuals that would allow space to feel the music, so Aurielle and I spent time hunting the high desert for the tiny critters in the shadows, capturing them close up, and letting the camera add its own organic reactions.‘
– Amber Padgett
I adore the Super 8 aesthetic of the video, so I have to commend Padgett and Zeitler on their choice of medium for this project. The carefully considered shots and slow-paced videography complement “Might of the Small” quite well, both on a musical and a thematical level. This is the kind of accompaniment the song practically begs for, and I would personally love to see even more of it.
Now, if you’re anything like me, your question would be ‘why release a music video for a song that’s two years old at this point?‘ Well, dear reader, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this: you see, Ghost Marrow is on the cusp of releasing a remix album of earth + death, in which all seven tracks will be presented as reimagined by as many different artists. This should be exciting news for anyone who enjoyed the original release, although I am very curious as to which artists might have been chosen for this project.
Said Ghost Marrow remix album will once again be distributed via The Garrote. In order to stay informed about this upcoming release, you might want to follow both the label and Zeitler herself on their respective Instagram pages. You can also get your hands on the original earth + death record via Bandcamp.
Featured image courtesy of David Mitchell; header image courtesy of Amber Padgett
