February 2021 – Singapore – Following the release of their latest single “Not Alone”, Brisbane quartet Waxflower announced an accompanying music video.
“We shot it at a community hall in Brisbane. “Somewhere with cool windows” may have been the only prerequisite,” recalls frontman Tristan Higginson. “The group therapy setting, and my interaction (or lack thereof) with the other members is really the crux of the video. There are all of these people around me – interacting, putting themselves out there to try and find some solace. I’m not partaking in any of that. I’m caught in my own world running on the fumes of my own melodrama. Revelling in the sadness. It’s a visualisation of the behaviour I was prone to when the song was written. It was a reminder to myself that things didn’t have to be as hard as I was making them.”
The track delves further into the band’s regularly discussed theme of mental health, this time further exploring the light at the end of the tunnel Waxflower introduced in “Again” by highlighting the importance of support networks in a journey to better health.
“It’s easy to become complacent in times of sadness or anxiety – to become defined by it,” says Higginson. “For me, that became a facade, almost as if I was lingering in that shadow to bolster an image, rather than actively trying to get better.”
“I’ve been prone to isolating myself when times get tough, and as addictive as that melancholy can be, it’s not healthy. ‘Not Alone’ is an exercise in self-reflection, focusing on the internal struggles that come with striving to better your mental state. But it also expands on this by factoring in the support networks we have, the helpful tools outside of our own will and mind.”
The track was recorded with frequent collaborator Stevie Knight (The Dead Love / Stand Atlantic / Yours Truly) at Electric Sun Studios.
