Dreamy, elegant, and wistful. Those are three ways to describe the new Wasia Project single, “My Lover Is Sleeping.”
The sibling duo, made up of Heartstopper’s Will Gao and Olivia Hardy, have been on a creative roll recently, releasing the song just three months after their feel-good indie-pop banger “Petals on the Moon,” which was accompanied by a visual that was videographed by Grace Pickering (Tyler The Creator, Sam Smith) and saw the pair full of life while enjoying a trip to New York City.
The official music video for “My Lover Is Sleeping,” however, takes on a different style to match the calming ballad’s energy. Illustrated and animated by Patrick Atkins, the 3-minute-and-44-second clip will leave you daydreaming and likely teleport your brain to somewhere far more peaceful and magical.
“Is he dreaming of a paradise? / Somewhere in the distance we could go to hide away? / No one to tell us what to do or say…” Hardy sings in her angelic voice.
Talking about the track in their press release, Wasia Project gave listeners an insight into the inspiration behind it. “The piece follows a character who is intimately watching their lover sleep, imagining all of the different places the lover might be going in his dreams,” they said. “The song is warped in the space between consciousness and the dream. Between the singer and her lover. And of course between the artist and the listener.”
As for the imagination behind the visual, Atkins explained he “had an idea early on just from listening to track, of having the central figure falling through the sky in a dream-like space with clouds and planets drifting past, but working with Will and Olivia this grew into a much more full bodied narrative for the whole video; one that takes the central character, and viewer, on a journey that evolves and shifts with the track.”
“Patrick’s previous work immediately intrigued us and his pitch was bang on the psychedelic and dreamy aesthetic we wanted,” Gao said about his desire of wanting to work with Atkins. “His style is also so unique and authentic and we really liked that. Wasia Project constantly look to collaborate with artists across the creative space as the barriers between the music and art world become increasingly blurred.”
Those hoping to catch Wasia Project live are in luck. This summer, they will be making appearances across the UK at Latitude Festival, Secret Garden, and Standon Calling this July.