Curfew's Madeline Clayton Reveals Indigo Sparke’s Vulnerability as Strength in New Promo

Curfew’s rostered talent Madeline Clayton directs this just released music video for Australian singer-songwriter Indigo Sparke. The single is from her soon-to-be-released sophomore album, produced by Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, The National), on Sacred Bones. 

With a rare and reflective intensity, Sparke’s vocal intimacy creates a feeling of rapture in Pressure In My Chest. On the album, she examines her history of love, loss, rage, dreams, and the emotional weather patterns surrounding those sensations, offering an expansive body of work that is simultaneously nostalgic, clear, and complex.

Of the song, Sparke says “In the birth of memory, there is the eternal moment of time. All things exist here. Through night dreams and wishes, and hot tears and laughing stars, I carried myself to the desert to traverse the landscape of history and reconcile the ever present Pressure in my Chest.”

Clayton says: “Creating this music video with Indigo was born out of our interest and exploration of an artist grappling with her own emotional and mental suffering and how complex that relationship can be. When I first heard Pressure In My Chest I was just blown away by the stoicism that came from a woman speaking quite vulnerably about her emotional turmoil, anxiety, and mental health. I really wanted to create a music video for Indigo that showcased her strength as a woman and as an artist and her unique perspective and relationship with her mental health.” 

The film depicts Indigo trapped inside her bedroom - one’s most intimate space to dream, rest, grieve, and make love. The artist and director worked with movement director and choreographer Robert Vail, who facilitated the creation of a space for Sparke to use her body as another instrument for storytelling. The movement and expression in the music video are emotional rather than choreographed, intuitive and improvised. 

“We hold so much emotion in our bodies - all of our pain, trauma, passion, excitement, and energy,” continues Clayton. “Body language is a huge part of how we communicate. We really wanted to use Indigo’s body as another layer of telling this sonic story and using the lyrics as little nuggets for us to visualize the song in a way that brought more gravitas.”

The raw, stripped down film is captivating and intoxicating, as the viewer witnesses Sparke process her state of being. It captures her experience with mental health in a way that’s not only relatable, but incredibly refreshing.