You’d think social media would make us less lonely—particularly during a time when it’s literally illegal to hang out with other people IRL. Think again.
Videos by American Songwriter
Claude’s new single, “Screen”—premiering below—shows Chicago musician Claudia Ferme delivering an eerie, evocative meditation on our collective social media anxiety.
“I’m watching myself,” Ferme lulls in the opening verse, “I’m watching myself / through a screen / can you see me?” Her voice—held up by haunting, bare-bones instrumentation—is the incandescent core of the song.
“‘Screen’ is about the feeling of desperation I get when I use technology and social media to get attention from or to feel connected to others, especially when I feel lonely or isolated,” the singer-songwriter and guitarist says in a statement. “I’m getting attention from and connecting with other people but only through a very small and curated part of myself. I waste a lot of time and energy for that part of me to feel satisfied temporarily through a medium that isn’t truly authentic or tactile in the first place. No matter how long I think about something I’m posting or how good I think something I’m posting is, it’s never enough and usually leaves me feeling more isolated and lonely than I did before.”
The accompanying music video—directed by Bitchcraft / Aliya Haq—is a pixelated Zoom performance piece, another disturbing mirror-image of 2020.
“While I wrote the song before the pandemic,” says Ferme, “having to stay at home created an opportunity for me to explore the feeling of desperation when using technology and social media to get attention or create the illusion of connecting with others. A lot of the experiences we used to have in person are now being lived through our screens, online, and I think they make our reality seem even more distorted than it currently is.”
Of course, COVID exacerbated all of this. “Loneliness and isolation was also forced onto us this year, even though it was and still is essential for our safety and the safety of others,” Ferme continues. “It’s a situation that’s pretty much universal and it’s been interesting to see how everyone has been dealing with it, or at least how they’ve been portraying the way they’ve been dealing with it. During this time so many things have been amplified and exposed through our screens, and there are more important and pressing things vying for the attention of the people around us—like the pandemic, protests surrounding police brutality and systemic injustice, and the election, to name a few—how do we strike a balance between staying active and informed while also preserving our mental health during this time when we have no other inlet or outlet for the most part but our screens?”
“Screen” follows Claude’s previous single, “Turn,” released last year. “We caught Claude open for our buddies in Discus at their album release show and really enjoyed their set,” Chicago indie rockers Deeper told FLOOD back in March when they included the song in a playlist of Windy City favorites. “Claudia’s voice is so good on ‘Turn’—love how this track unfolds,” Deeper added. “Excited to see what they do in 2020.”
With Claude’s debut Side Hustle EP, Enactor, due in February, we’re also excited to see what Claudia & co. do in 2021.
“Screen” is out December 9. Enactor arrives February 12 via Side Hustle Records.
