A Place We All Know, Nathaniel Sutton
Ask any musician about a tumultuous period in their life, and they’ll tell you: music was there for them. That’s also true for this artist. Moths and Giraffes are proud to premiere the music video for Nathaniel Sutton’s latest single, ‘The Metaphor’. This article features exclusive commentary from Nathaniel on the roots of the song and the making of its accompanying visuals, giving a wider look on its significance in Sutton’s life.
Nathaniel Sutton is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Nathaniel uses everything at his disposal to create his instrumental works from conventional piano, acoustic and electric guitars to chain-linked pedals, samplers, modular synthesizers and tape machines. His YouTube channel shows a myriad of musical endeavours, including some of his short-film soundtrack work, electronic exploration and tape-loop experiments.
But Nathaniel Sutton is also a writer of songs with a more personal subtext. More recently, Sutton has been releasing singles from his forthcoming EP including ‘Razor Blades’ and ‘Animals’. ‘The Metaphor’ is his first single of 2023, and is accompanied by a DIY video of televisual proportions.
“‘The Metaphor’ is a song about contemplating past events and how some memories are conceived as metaphors. ‘There's a hole in my heart like the hole in the door’ is an example of this, taking the listener through a story of a relationship that is no more. It's a sentimental song with heartfelt lyrics and melodies, written to convey the emotions of a broken heart.”
The roots of Nathaniel Sutton’s latest single grew out of his marriage coming to an end during the pandemic after eleven years. A sombre piano tone introduces Sutton’s voice. Weary, but ultimately speaking from a position of strength - ‘There’s a hole in the door where I used to live, I should’ve got it fixed but I never did, and I know now it was a metaphor.’
Using a television as the centrepiece for his music video, Nathaniel’s eyes rarely leave the viewer’s, as he tells them of the lessons he’s learnt whilst also letting them know that it’s ok to make mistakes. Accompanying Sutton are layers of electric guitar, drums and more atmospheric sounds that no doubt derive from his sonic bag of tricks.
The chorus for ‘The Metaphor’ is a single line, but the most universal and human - ‘Take me back to a place I know.’ I think we all have that sense of yearning for familiarity in the face of emotional trauma. It’s why people return to their favourite books, TV shows and music when the unpredictability of life needs a counterweight of stability. It’s safety, and that’s what Nathaniel Sutton demonstrates so well by reinforcing this lyric with memories extracted directly from his childhood and more recent past. Nathaniel talks more about why he invites the viewer into his life for this visual:
“The music video was filmed by me as a DIY project. I knew the concept that I wanted, so I searched on Facebook marketplace for an old, antique television. Once I had acquired it, I got a variety of professional photos taken of the TV by Bela Photography in Edmonton, AB. Afterwards, it was a matter of placing the music video into the television screen and voila, ‘The Metaphor’ music video was formed. The video contains visuals of myself singing the song as well as actual footage of my childhood at the end, for that nostalgic effect. The childhood footage was taken from multiple VHS videos recorded by my mom and dad during my earlier years. It's the perfect way to end the video because in the end, it was my family that was there for support.”
Gently fading his drum performance as these memories play out in his music video, more of Nathaniel’s instrumental parts are revealed. Keyboard layers drift like a thin cushion of cloud above strumming electric guitars, while an increasingly distorted synth brings ‘The Metaphor’ to an end. It’s here where you can see Sutton’s love of experimentation colliding with his songwriting skills to create a pocket of sound in this song for the listener to think about what they’ve heard. For Nathaniel Sutton though, he’s had enough time to think, and assures us more music is coming:
“I wrote and recorded ‘The Metaphor’ shortly after the separation, emotions still intact. This is one of five songs that will be released on an EP later this year, called ‘A Brighter Sound’. I've been sitting on these songs since 2020, waiting for the right time to release them. I've since healed from this past relationship, turned heartbreak into art and it finally feels ready to share this music with the masses.”
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Download and stream ‘The Metaphor’ by Nathaniel Sutton from his Bandcamp page here.
For more information about Nathaniel Sutton, visit his official website.
Follow Nathaniel Sutton on Facebook and Instagram @nathanielsuttonmusic, and on Twitter @nathanielsutton.
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