The California-based Folk-Pop duo Faultlines releases an emotional music video for their latest love song, "Cry."
Consisting of Ashley Morgan and John Flanagan, the duo is fresh off the release of their album 'Bittersweet Revival.' The project is said to be equal parts optimism and outcry, as Ashley Morgan states: "We feel it is our duty to use music to open minds."
Doing precisely this with their recent music video for "Cry," not only can we feel Ashley Morgan's aching emotion through her powerful vocals, but we can vividly see her heart shatter within this conceptual and striking music video. Through Todd McCool's melancholy and melodic acoustic guitar instrumentation and John Flanagan & Jeston Cade's knack for immersive songwriting, Faultlines is truly making a name for themselves.
The music video for "Cry" begins with Todd McCool's atmospheric acoustic guitar picking overtop of the video's scenes capturing friends at a party. As Ashley Morgan starts singing to the camera while surrounded by friends having a laugh, we instantly get the chills as she vocalizes a past relationship's pain and missing her other half dearly.
What stands out in the music video is the epic and breathtaking cinematography; as the chorus comes around, Ashley Morgan belts her heart's desire while crying in the same room of the party, but this time, alone.
Through Ashley Morgan's compelling vocal performance and Todd McCool's heartfelt acoustic instrumentation, Faultlines' music video for "Cry" takes our breath away with each reflective and emotional turn.
Why did you feel the need to create and release such an emotional song with your single, "Cry"? How did the single's inspiration come about?
John: Cry was a co-write between myself and Jeston Cade in Nashville, TN. We borrowed largely from his personal heartbreak for the emotion of the song. Many songwriters believe the more universal you make a song, the more people will connect with its message, but I’ve learned the opposite. It is in the intimate and personal that we connect with other humans, so to connect - truly connect - with our audiences, I find it best to be as personal as possible in our songs. Speaking on the brilliant and emotional music video for "Cry," how did you develop the video's concept and scenes surrounding the inner-pain one feels after a breakup?
Ashley: We had this idea to shoot slow-motion party scenes that cut to clips of me alone and still in my party dress with mascara running down my face. I wanted to capture that feeling of trying to move forward and being surrounded by people having fun at an event, yet still feeling alone. There’s nothing like getting yourself back out there and showing up to a party, only to see your ex walk in with someone else. It was a lot of fun to put together because we just invited all of our friends! What was the shoot like for your video "Cry"? Speaking on Ashley Morgan's part, was it challenging to channel those raw emotions when shooting the video?
Ashley: To achieve the slow-motion shots, we had to speed up the track. So I was singing along to a super-fast version of the song while everyone was playing cards and being silly. It was tough to focus on the raw emotion and not laugh at what everyone was doing around me! Between singing the song sped up and the makeup artist putting eye drops in my eye to create streaming “tears”, there was a lot going on! During the solo shots, I got to sing the song at its normal speed. I remember one time, the music accidentally got cut off and I decided to keep going acapella to not lose the take. That was a really special moment! Seeing as "Cry" is off your recent album 'Bittersweet Revival,' do you plan to create more music videos for other tracks on the project?
John: We have videos for our songs “Rain” and “Love Is All We Own.” Those can be viewed on our YouTube channel. We love making videos, and our director, John Mediana, is the best there is, but as for Bittersweet Revival, I think we may be shifting our focus away from videos and back towards the studio in the coming months. We can’t wait to release the music we’ve been sitting on while rolling out this LP.
What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
John: We seek our inspiration everywhere. By dipping our hands into the stream of the cultural conscience, we find a connection to our time, our culture. If the results of the election had been different, our inspiration likely would have continued to be drawn from activism, from the protest, but as I joked with Ashley, I’m just so excited to write breakup songs, love songs, and pop lyrics again! We all get to suspire, to let our guard down, to have some fun in our music again.
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