Skaly is the kind of singer whose nostalgic music has the dramatic force of a romantic twilight painting. It makes you lighter and at the same time more meditative, pushing you to confront your own aspirations and fears. ‘Hopes‘, one of her latest songs, whose music video bears the artist and Kevin King’s and Zach Pettingill’s signatures, is no exception to the rule. This gothic rock ballad, with echoes of Evanescence, is therefore based on a dark aesthetic which, in terms of cinematic concreteness, assimilates several symbols of feminine power in a theatrical setting that combines ritual and danger. The visual tension created between the apparent fragility of the female figures and the controlled violence of juggling fire and knives in a ceremony that is both purifying and witch-like is a constant throughout the painfully poetic cinematic micro-narrative.
Tenderness and fear intertwine with fascination and a looming sense of catastrophe in a confession that explores the struggles of human destiny. Yet, it also reveals the hidden resilience of an individual who finds unexpected strength in moments of weakness. Fire, rich in symbolic meaning, takes center stage, representing both the torment of inner struggles and personal challenges, as well as the forces of rebirth and life-affirming energy.
Although, overall, the concept doesn’t take these premises to another level to materialize an atypical narrative, Skaly, Kevin King and Zach Pettingill are much more concerned with the atmosphere of this cathartic “sabbath” and the harmonious balance between the vibrations of the song and the slow-motion choreographic gestures of the protagonists. Perhaps a greater degree of boldness, a more “experimental” nuance would have decisively helped the impact of this confession whose structure tends to remain within fairly conventional parameters. Thus, the two creators use basic symbolism, such as the knives thrown at the singer, illustrating the criticism, social pressure, or emotional suffering she is enduring. However, this stylistic choice does not detract from the honesty and tenderness of the artist’s voice, which makes ‘Hopes’ an allegory for the inner struggle against one’s own demons or a hostile world, while at the same time claiming an aesthetic of strength and resistance.
