Video of The Day: Brooke Bentham

There’s a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video of The Day are a cut (or two) above.

If you've ever been through the pain and confusion that goes along with being ghosted (and who among us hasn't been at some point?), you'll want to spend some time taking solace in Brooke Bentham's excellent contemplation on the subject, "Control."

Says Brooke of the song, “It’s about when someone cuts you off entirely. It’s weird when someone does that. I got blocked out with absolutely no reason why, and it makes you question yourself and you just can’t stop thinking about it. You’re just talking to a wall; it’s bouncing back and you end up with this mess in your head."

With "Control," Brooke expresses the hurt, frustration, and shock of being shut out in growing defiance, her vocals transitioning from wounded to challenging as a tangled snarl of grungy noise blooms and booms behind. You can hear the fixation, the unanswered questions and emotional rawness in both lyrics and vocals. It's quite a powerful, cathartic listen.

The video does a hell of a job capturing the awkward isolation that a ghosting can elicit from the ghostee. Seeing Brooke look bereft while taking uncomfortable refuge under couch cushions, for example, or trying to disappear completely under curtain sheers, tugs the heart strings more than a little bit. 

[posted 1.26.20]