There’s no shortage of good music on Samantha Crain’s latest effort, Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, but “Killer” stands out for a couple of reasons. For one, its dazzlingly frail synthesizers have an ethereal, ghostlike quality to them, diverting from Crain’s more sturdy acoustic palate in favor of genre-bending sonic experimentation. Yet it’s also the most candid political statement she’s ever written — an old-fashioned protest song about the need for awareness and resilience in the face of injustice. It’s a devastating combination that elicits all the emotion of the centuries-long (and still ongoing) struggle for equality in just three and a half minutes.
The video, directed by Weston Getto Allen and Dorian Electra, is appropriately visceral in its depiction of a young African-American, one who dreams of becoming a police officer only to fall victim to the all-too-common police-inflicted violence. Through its masterfully striking imagery, the video culminates in an emotionally potent finale that recalls the tragedy of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was gunned down by police late last year as he wielded a toy gun.
Songs and videos like these are surprisingly uncommon in these tumultuous times, and the fact that Crain is making them with such gravity and grace is certainly something to behold.
Watch the video below, and be sure to grab Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, out now via Ramseur Records, from your local record store.
