Matt Wade, who performs under the name,
My Silent Bravery, takes listeners on a trip back in time via his latest cut, “18”, which follows his highly successful single, “Girl You Think You Know”. Though the lyrics reference the 1980s (Patrick Swayze, Bon Jovi) and the video has more than a few nods to that bygone era (Risky Business, anyone?), the track itself is never out of touch with contemporary. The lyrical hook and strong, sentimental tug of wanting to relive a youth that passed too quickly by will appeal to the most hard-hearted of listeners (or viewers).
The plot at the core of the video isn’t exactly one that would have fit in a John Hughes picture from the era, but it recaptures the loner/outcast in love with the beautiful girl from school trope from the cinema of the era. With nostalgia for those years running high thanks to
The Americans, Stranger Things and other series, the video feels as much a product of that time as it is so clearly a product of now. (And, musically, it doesn’t hurt that it wouldn’t take much to strip the song down to an “unplugged” rendition.)
Wade says, “The video was inspired by the neo-’80s aesthetic that’s popular right now. Our team, consisting of consisting of millennials who were born in the ’90s, wanted to tell a universal story that could be felt across different generations. Instead of the bright neon colors typically associated with the ’80s. The team opted to go for a more muted and darker palette to evoke the sense of normalcy that you find in the suburbs. Lights from the string lights to the light bouncing off the water in the pool were also essential to creating the look. We wanted it to feel romantic but eerie so we combined techniques that you’d typically see in horror or film noir with story beats you’d find in a rom-com”.