Submerge Yourself in Sudie's New Video for 'Heartattack'

The video for Sudie Abernathy’s break-out single, “Heartattack,” is a walk through a forest meant to symbolize her personal growth, complete with levitation the total removal of a white linen dress by the very end. As she disrobes, the song submerges itself in its own echos, near-a cappella but for a twinkle of piano that would be extraneous if it weren’t so ginger.

The video, debuting here, is the first from the 23-year-old’s first EP, out April 7. Of the clip, Sudie says:

The loss of innocence in the video is mostly about the loss of the innocence of the mind. I didn’t want this to only be about in terms of sexuality, but more as a human being and what comes with growing up out of childhood into adulthood. For me, it was more about how the carefree and insouciant ideology and mental state of a child completely changes as you grow up and take on responsibilities.

It’s not as obvious as it seems: Sudie wrote this song in a panic after having a dream about its exact lyrics—”I had a heart attack/when I was dreaming”—which would be perhaps unremarkable if she didn’t have the dream at the same time her grandfather passed from a heart attack. She wrote “Heartattack” on the piano in the middle of the night once she heard the news. The feeling of descent in the song is dreamlike, too, falling backwards into her clear tone, the first assertions of a woman facing the world for what it is. We all wear this kind of brave face, but sometimes we gotta strip naked to do it. Preferably in the woods?