POTW: Alex Kehm – ‘Face’

“Kehm writes with such an honest vulnerability in ‘Face’, which is refreshing for someone still in the spring of their life. I think we can discredit people’s experiences by their age, but – thinking back to my own experiences – there was such intensity that came with heartbreak and rejection in my teenage years that I just didn’t have the coping mechanisms in place to deal with. The lines ‘Haven’t ate in seven days / ’cause I’ve been up ’til 6am / Wrote five songs all just for you / Three of them I can’t bear listening to’ really echo the magnitude of their situation. When you miss someone so much that you lose appetite – when it feels truly possible to die from a broken heart.

The piano line throughout is a delicate, repeated refrain, and (maybe it’s because I’m a romantic / took English Lit for too many years) this feels like the repeated thought of your ex, the good times, one particular scenario playing through your mind & you can’t get rid of.

As for the video, Kehm is sitting centre stage for the first shot, painting. They then oscillate between this space, writing at a desk -the word ‘LOVE’ clearly displayed on their mood board – & recording the song. We finish with the destruction of the painting, the mood board, the song; Kehm lying in the mess. It feels like a catharsis for them (and, actually, for me too – get rid of that negativity) & compliments the melancholic tone of the song.

I can’t wait to see the next creative adventure Kehm embarks on. Despite (thankfully) being out of my heartbreak era, ‘Face’ is a song I’ve had on repeat for candelit evenings where I’m feeling a little self indulgent…or just want to be hit hard in the feels.”

Kate, IAMUR

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