Video Premiere: Mol Sullivan “Eggshells”

There’s a fine line between a dream and a nightmare sometimes, and often the colors and timbres of each intersect at a perfect point. Mol Sullivan’s “Eggshells” dives into the deepest end, tackling the difficulties of balancing one’s own needs against those of a trying friendship. Navigating the emotional strip mine of figuring out who to be there for – ourselves or others – leaves us feeling threadbare and strewn across the landscape. Sullivan, who directed the video and did the incredible art direction, uses fantasy and humor to take the initial sting out of these themes, but in doing so makes it an easier pill to swallow.

“I still hold love for this person, making it difficult to cut ties and also to bite my tongue,” she explains. “The two characters in the fantasy forest scene (half a dozen or so life-size eggs strewn about in the background), represent the duality of my own personhood throughout dealing with this friendship.” Her vocal melodies lilt and flicker above the sinuous aural silhouettes, airy in their approach, but each word is sharper than obsidian. The ostentatious visuals pull us in, impossible to ignore. Sullivan played this up on purpose, “It’s a video that goes full-tilt camp to soften the blow of my sincere frustration, and at the same time, to lean into the absurdity of the whole situation.”

“Why’s it gotta be so hard?” she asks over and over on the chorus, the ridiculousness of the situation boiling over and falling into this vivid, fantastical world filled with over-the-top characters and a seriously engaging performance from Sullivan. “Eggshells” presses on toward the cliff, reminding us to keep laughing to hold back the ocean and keep the profound hurt at bay.

“Eggshells” appears on Mol Sullivan’s upcoming album, GOOSE, which will be released on January 24, 2024.

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