English singer-songwriter Jade Bird has returned with her brand new single ‘Burn The Hard Drive’ featuring the genre-bending, Grammy-nominated electronic producer Mura Masa. Now based in Los Angeles, Bird is truly living up to her ‘Americana’ image following her last project in 2021, ‘Different Kinds of Light‘. The single is very much a symbol of celebrating being able to let go of a certain time of your life, particularly ones that have ended in heartbreak.
Speaking on the story behind the song, Bird said: “Burn The Hard Drive was a song I wrote while still in my last relationship. I think my subconscious knew before I did that it was over. But also, that the ending would be where so much more could begin. Working with Mura Masa has been the purest process. When I got emotional hearing it back after the breakup, he helped me finish it and not erase it, fittingly like everything else.”
“I wanted to get something close to the emotions I had been feeling this past 18 months, and when I see me, hand in hand with a ghost, it hits hard“, she added.
As Bird suggests, not only do we end up having to remove people from our physical spaces, but our digital ones too. For the best part of a decade, the internet was always viewed as a place to escape from the real world, but in recent years, it now seems that the real world offers an escape from the internet, especially during the aftermath of a relationship.
The accompanying music video expresses this very sentiment, presenting a world that is half physical and half pixelated, with momentary flashes of Bird, people and places, illustrating how photographs, video and social media are so deeply intertwined in our real lives, just as memories and past moments reappear in certain places that we walk or drive by. A summer picnic playing out on an icy, barren meadow; seeing someone’s silhouette in the corner of a once beloved pub, or holding hands with their ghost on a park bench. Bird posed an emotional question to fans about the video’s concept, asking them: “All those places have a new meaning now. Where’s a place you just can’t go to anymore?!”
Bird begins the video journeying in a car on a blistering, dirt road, looking back at her past self in the rear view mirror. Shot in various locations, she walks alongside the ghost of an ex-lover, watching as they slowly fade away. Expertly and lovingly crafted, the video was directed by Aries Moross, who Bird has previously worked with on her album visuals. The singer spoke on working with Moross in an Instagram post announcing the single, commenting: “Aries Moross has been my hero and favourite collaborator since my debut video ‘Lottery’ (they shot that too!), there’s something that feels amazing about shooting this new era with them. I’m floored by their work and ability to put together the most incredible people on the daily.”
The collaboration between the pair perfectly captures the same sense of longing and sorrow woven into Bird’s lyrics, while also demonstrating the power in being able to detach from these feelings, move on with your life in a healthy way and cherish new people and new memories.
‘Burn The Hard Drive’ is a glimpse into what is perhaps Bird’s most nuanced sound yet, beguiling us as she flits between softer and rockier vocals. Relishing in her signature raspy tone, Bird plays with a sultry, percussive folk melody no longer filled with darkness or yearning, but with acceptance, relief and new beginnings.
‘Burn The Hard Drive’ is out now.
