The Natural Synthetic navigate emotions on “Blind”
The Natural Synthetic’s latest track “Blind” is a follow up to their previous single “Sacrifices”, delving into a different aspect of the same breakup. Miette Hope navigates her emotions with her musical therapist and the other half of the Natural Synthetic, Juan Ariza. “I’ve seen all the breakups through,” Ariza jokes. Over Zoom, the duo have pushed each other creatively, urging each other to take the road less traveled instead of the route they would normally take.
“I think [Blind] is more about questioning why we choose relationships,” explains Hope. “Is it about loving the person? Or is it about feeling loved? Or, you know, is it about attachment? Or is it about true companionship, and I think as we’re growing up, or at least as I’m growing up, I’m just learning that they’re different things. And sometimes, like, you can just convince yourself that like, something is right, because it feels comfortable.”
An introspective, hard-hitting house track, “Blind” tracks the back and forth of Hope’s internal monologue. From the outside, Hope looks into herself, acknowledging infatuation as the outcome of her own attachment. “I think production wise it’s one of those things where it’s also a song where it has a duality in itself. Part of it is acceptance moving into apathy. I think the track represents that, like the harps and kind of the floaty top and just everything in that place,” explains Ariza.
The chorus of “Blind” was originally meant to finish the verse, but it became the chorus, as per Ariza’s recommendation. “It’s so disembodied. It hits you in the face. But then it’s just like this disembodied vocal on top of everything else, which I think is like the veil of ignorance,” he explains. “Either when you’re in love or out of love, or not being able to love yourself, because you love the idea of somebody else.” It’s a fresh take on the phrase “you can’t love somebody else till you love yourself.” Sometimes, people stand in the way of you loving yourself.
The video for “Blind” is a DIY mix of shots of Hope in a blindfold with a lamp shining in her direction. Ariza added his touch with hand-drawn, stop-motion blobs that move across the screen. “We don’t need to necessarily follow the rules too much, but if it feels right it feels right,” says Ariza of their video-making process, which has in the past involved projectors, collages, and more.
The artwork for each of their singles is a remake of a different element of the periodic table. Just like each element, each of The Natural Synthetic’s songs is entirely different in quality, an unpredictable mashup of all the different genres that live in their music libraries. The band has two more upcoming singles planned, the first of which is called “Days Like This” and is scheduled for release on November 19th. “Days Like This” will be more sonically similar to their first single “Nervous” with a lighter, pop-driven, Fleetwood Mac inspired feel.
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