Following the hype generated by her debut single ‘Flirting with Strangers’, indie pop-rock artist Izzy S.O recently put out an intensely fervent and heartfelt music video for her song ‘Can You Hear Me’ on 14th October 2022, the closer to her debut EP of the same name released through Silent Kid Records.
Shot by director Vittoria Rizzardi Penalosa and featuring Alexander Arnold of the Skins TV series, the video conceptually mirrors a defiant ode to choosing oneself amid a faulty relationship with widening cracks in the seams. Izzy and Arnold play either part of an enamoured yet defunct young couple and whether they find themselves laying together yet disgruntled in a picturesque meadow, throwing plates at each other that were laid out on an outdoor banquet from a dream or shakily aiming handguns at one another as if deciding whether to kill the relationship dead, the duo depicts the madness that comes from desperately clinging onto a person that should be let go.
Izzy S.O’s idea for the video came fairly simply: “The idea for the video started as stick men on a little piece of paper as I was eating Dahl in a restaurant in Stoke Newington – my initial idea for the video was very simple and was a sort of snapshot of the relationship that the song is about.”
Anarchic guitars and Izzy S.O’s clairvoyant, intentional vocals drive that point home, convincing the viewer that the song and video alike stem from lived experience and commendable vulnerability. She scornfully glares at Alex as if she would be frolicking through these fields if he wasn’t shackled to her ankle, yet shots of the pair dancing in each other’s arms make it seem as though their bond is less so holistically toxic and more so dismantling per necessity.
To that end, Izzy S.O had this to say about the inspiration behind the piece: “It’s an amplified version of a mad relationship I was in. Vittoria came up with the final concept – she brought in a surreal element to the story which gave me the freedom to see it more like an acting role. It was really important that the person playing opposite me was right; I didn’t want the relationship to just feel toxic – It had to show the fun side and make it clear that there was love beneath it all. When Alex agreed to do it I relaxed and felt like it was definitely going to be done right.”
Alexander Arnold’s appearance in the video is not to be overlooked. Many know him from his starring role as Rich Hardbeck in the E4 teen drama Skins along with prominent parts in films such as Yesterday and The Outpost and other popular drama series such as Pistol, Save Me and Poldark, and his contributions toward the music video create a performance that feels as believable as it is genuinely authentic.
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