Popdose proudly presents the world premiere video for State of Ease’, the latest video from one of our all time indie pop sweethearts, Sara Melson. The track previews her upcoming EP, Wild & Precious Life, out May 16, 2020.

 

Sara emerged from LA’s legendary Hotel CafÁ© singer/songwriter scene. Over the years, her real estate on my CD shelf has steadily grown with an eclectic and evolving of mix rockers, ballads and dreamy pop songs released on a series of albums and EPs.

The video was shot at Point Dume in Malibu — and despite how easy and breezy it looks in the final edit, Sara tells us it was both a beautiful and intensely windy day — and cold when the sun dropped! Director/editor Josh Kirschenbaum of Nomad Editing (the team behind the recent Coldplay video for Orphans’) shot the clip on his iPhone 11, weaving in breathtaking aerial drone shots from Mark McTiernan.

The track was produced and mixed by Rick Parker (Lord Huron, Joseph Arthur) and Eric Breiner (PeachMusicLA), with Sara on vocals and piano, Danny Hechter (Badflower, Jordan McGraw) on guitar, Kerenza Peacock (Adele) on violin, and Parker on bass and drums.

”State of Ease’ is a special song for me, because it’s a prayer for healing,” Sara revealed. ”I’ve been through some turbulent times over the last few years, emotionally and physically. It’s a desperate call for salvation, really. A plea to somehow find that eye of the storm, all the way inside, that place where you can escape the noise of your own mind and hear the quiet stillness, deep within.

”Some call this being centered, some call it groundedness. I have to practice a lot to be aware and to remind myself to come back into the present moment. Observing my breath slowly filling my whole body is immediately calming. It’s serenity and ecstasy at the same time. And then when breath comes out in singing, it takes me into the stratosphere, and it feels like flying.

”Being in nature fills me with immense gratitude for the awesome beauty in the world. I have dreams of imagining what it’s like to be a bird, or a butterfly. Singing this song on top of a cliff, feeling the wind dance with me, inhaling the sea air, that’s the feeling I want to imbue with the song. No one can escape pain in life. So I pray for a state of ease — peace — in the face of that pain; for myself, for the listener, and for the world.”

State of Ease’, the third of four new singles that Melson has released since October, is up now on all streaming platforms.

About the Author

Keith Creighton

Keith is a music correspondent for Popdose and an advocate on women's empowerment, gender identity, and gender liberation issues. He is a monthly new-music contributor to the Planet LP Podcast and is a marketing writer by day for Sudden Monkey.

View All Articles