To kick off the week ahead, our Video of the Day is award-winning Holly Arrowsmith‘s music video for her new mesmerising single ‘Neon Bright‘. With this new track, the Aotearoa-based alt-country and contemporary folk songwriter continues to define the Americana landscape in Aotearoa through the beauty and excellence of her craft.

Led by accomplished producer Tom Healy (Marlon Williams, Bic Runga), and accompanied by an all-star cast of New Zealand musicians (Cass Basil, Anita Clark, Alex Freer), Holly has composed yet another winning work with ‘Neon Bright‘. The song has a an Alt-Pop lean which was newly explored territory for Holly, drawing on styles like that of Kurt Vile meshed with a circling, alt-country vibe accentuated by Holly’s playing of the Dobro (resonator guitar.)

The video for ‘Neon Bright‘ brings us into a world where feelings have literally taken control of the movement of Holly, as the main character. The video produced and directed by Robyn Jordaan stars fellow Aotearoa kaipuoro and creatives: Delaney Davidson, Jessie Shanks, Chris Wethey, Amiria Grenell, and Naomi Haussman.

“I had this idea of being manoeuvred around by other hands, helping me to play the instruments, fix my face, stand up, and look ahead. I wanted to show the loss of vitality in this character: The feelings aren’t bad, they are just trying to serve a purpose. In the end I have a standoff with Delaney Davidson, the perfect cowboy villain, whose attempts to intimidate me go unnoticed. I love this trope in Western movies, and we gave it our own design with a spinning plinth instead of a dusty street. The heroine finds courage again, to turn face to face with this charading character, to see it for what it is.” – Holly Arrowsmith

Feast your eyes on this mini Western and tune in āpōpō (and every day of New Zealand Music Month) for a new Video of the Day!

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Photo credit: Si Moore

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