Released back in February – which in 2021 time feels like a solid three years ago – Alicia Clara’s Outsider/Unusual has been one of the standout indie dream pop releases of the year. The Montreal-based singer-songwriter’s EP is an introspective examination on self-fulfillment, disappointment, isolation. 

Today, she’s back to make waves with her video for “Stones Like Eyes,” one of the singles from the EP. The track seems to be an exploration on the end of a relationship that seemed quite dreamy and romantic in its initial stages, but lacked whatever it takes to carry on and become something truly lasting. “It’s nobody’s fault / we were not meant to dance after dark / the moonlit pavement threw us off.” *Snaps*

Photo by Tess Roby

The video – directed by Roxane Loumède – begins with an intimate shot of Alicia lying in bed, opening her eyes as though we as viewers have been invited to this incredibly personal space, a dream realm of the singer’s own making. As we quickly see, her mattress is actually floating on a body of water, so these visuals may not be fully tethered to the tangible world. Her hazy “oohs” melodicize ethereally before the drums and bass kick into gear, lending a funky groove to the singer’s vocals. As the video goes on, the image of Alicia in bed fades into a starry night sky; she tries on various wigs over backdrops of flowers and foliage; sits wide-eyed on a commuter train (looking very babushka-esque). Ultimately, we are transported to an open field, watching the singer dance around while singing about “jump[ing] back to the start.” It’s like all this transition and travel we’ve seen in the video has brought us back to this simple, rustic locale, a return to the basics. It looks a little similar to the Teletubbies landscape, actually, complete with some very sci-fi looking dome structures. 

To wrap up the visuals, we see Alicia Clara sit before a feast-laden table: lobster, pigs-in-blankets, cake, kiwis adorn. Oddly, instead of eating this sumptuous spread, she opts to for mutilation: recklessly squeezing the juice out of oranges and sticking an entire hand in a perfectly good cake. All this before hopping on the back of a motorcycle with an unidentified driver, riding off into the distance, and crashing in a fiery explosion. If we’re going to continue to venture down the route of dream interpretation, maybe we can offer this: though she sits at tat feast alone, it is still bountiful, enough to sustain her. By rejecting that and saddling up with the first person who comes along, she’s only traveling down a path to her own destruction. 

Shit. 

Watch the video for “Stones Like Eyes” below and stream/purchase Outsider/Unusual on Bandcamp or your streaming service of choice.