YDE blasted onto the music scene just two short months ago with “Stopped Buying Diamonds,” a song that kicks you in the face and demands your attention. After setting the bar at the top of the world with that debut, YDE managed to stretch even higher, bringing that same energy for her second single, “BlindLife,” which dropped at the beginning of this month. The accompanying video arrives today, exclusively with EUPHORIA.
“BlindLife” is another timely take on the world around us, just like YDE did with “Stopped Buying Diamonds.” This song, cowritten by songwriter Justin Tranter and Grammy-award-winning duo Mattman & Robin, points a finger at what’s wrong in the world. YDE dances around the chaos with lyrics like, “Our house is burning down / We could stop it and drop all the nonsense / We could / But this beverage tastes too good / Our house is burning down / We’ll rebuild it and fill it with millions / Instead of growing up.” It’s a not-always-obvious dig at everyone constantly turning a blind eye to the madness, something YDE’s been dealing with, feeling it weighing on her.
The new video exudes the same amount of chaos as the lyrics themselves, playing up an unrealistic vibe in a surrealistic dreamscape. Directed by Lucas Chemotti with creative direction from Darian Darling, the “BlindLife” video hits you with the juxtaposition of YDE bathed in ’80s glam punk with a background that’s sometimes burning trees, sometimes cartoon stars, and always out there.
We spoke with YDE to get her story on creating this song, as well as why she’s making this critical music with a message everyone needs to hear. Check it out and watch our exclusive premiere of the “BlindLife” video ahead.
You’ve already been called a voice of your generation — how does “BlindLife” factor into this message you started with “Stopped Buying Diamonds”?
Oh my. That’s a big title. There’s no getting used to that. What I love about both “BlindLife” and “Stopped Buying Diamonds” is they both speak about such crucial issues that we as a society need to be talking about between racial and gender discrimination and the fact that our planet is quite literally dying. But they do so in ways that are totally different, but still manage to work hand in hand.
I love that the video for “BlindLife” feels very retro, similarly to “Stopped Buying Diamonds” — what was the inspiration?
As of recently, I’ve been super intrigued by the whole ’80s glam punk scene, so both of these videos really pull a lot of inspiration from that. “BlindLife” specifically drew from elements of this scene with a dreamscape setting, collage elements, and a non-linear narrative development.
And what was the creation process like?
I wrote “BlindLife” in a session last year during fire season in California. It was a weird time to be in sessions for me because the whole city was practically engulfed in smoke yet I still sat in this session writing songs. This anxiety arose within me that felt an obligation to go do something in some way, yet I continued just to write songs. What I found so interesting about this whole experience was the fact that it wasn’t just me. It was all of Los Angeles. Everyone was still in their offices taking meetings, still out at lunches eating their low-fat salads, still turning a blind eye to the chaos outside. So this whole song is me writing about those moments where we turn a blind eye to the flames that are quite literally just outside our doors.
I can appreciate this trajectory you’re on to write what you “need to write about” as you once said. What can we expect with future releases in regard to this vibe?
You can expect a whole lot of me singing about topics that I deeply care about.
