Los Angeles based shoegaze duo The Know have released the beautifully choreographed video for their track “Hold Me Like You Know Me”, a song that is another example par excellence of the pair’s desire to compose passionate music rooted in honesty and sincerity.
The visuals accompanying the song aim to portray the feeling of loneliness and isolation through renowned dancer and social media personality Lexee Smith’s movements against the backdrop of a warehouse studio window and an animated room full of people. The song was inspired by singer Jennifer battle with depression and anxiety.
Lexee Smith, in particular, has been featured in quite a few music videos, and has recently made an appearence in FKA Twigs latest video “Holy Terrain”.
Watch the video for “Hold Me Like You Know Me” below:
The Know began in late 2018 when Daniel Knowles suggested to his wife, Jennifer Farmer, that instead of traveling home for the holidays (to the UK and Texas respectively) that the LA based transplants stay put and try to create music together, just the two of them. This would be the married couple’s gift to themselves.
For the next few weeks, they isolated themselves in their home studio with no real plan except a mutual love of Beach House, Julee Cruise, Ye Ye, The Jesus and Mary Chain, 60’s girl groups, and the evocative storytelling lyricism of Patsy Cline and The National.
The first result was lead single ‘143.’ Inspired by Tom Waits’ ‘(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night’, the dream-pop song melds autobiographical with fantastical lyrics and unfolds as a series of conversations, images, and hazy recollections of a night out. Their love for ethereal, dreamy atmospheres is shown in ‘143’, glistening with warm melodies, thick soundscapes, and quirky spontaneous flares.
Four more songs quickly followed in the wake of 143, tracks that provide an unflinching look at the couple. The EP often delves deep into the duo’s personal lives by honestly narrating stories from their relationship and life experiences against a kaleidoscopic sonic palette.
Recording together wasn’t entirely new to the couple, a few years prior they had made an album as “Ghostel” with a friend providing vocals. Knowles, previously a producer and guitarist for UK shoegaze band “Amusement Parks on Fire” and live sound engineer for bands like Cigarettes After Sex, Sharon Van Etten, and Phoebe Bridgers, recorded the project while Farmer became a co-writer and bassist for the first time. They’d later have one of their songs featured prominently in the trailer for Oscar-nominated film, “Mustang.”
The debut EP which was produced, mixed, and mastered by Knowles while Farmer handled the band’s visuals further reiterates their wish to craft something wholly their own. In addition, Knowles solely played all of the instruments while Farmer, for the first time, took on lead vocals. With a strong desire but no professional training and a deep-seated fear, so intense in fact that previous attempts had reduced her to tears, Farmer’s voice emerges as courageous and powerful.
