Elephante releases his most personal piece to date—experience ‘High Water’
A vocal-led release that listeners have come to know as “High Water” emerges as one of Elephante‘s most personal pieces to date. Produced and written by the artist during the COVID-19 lockdowns, “High Water” and its accompanying music video confront the musician’s “experience in [his] younger years withdrawing from opioids,” he said. Elephante, born Tim Wu, elaborated,
“The darkest moment in addiction is when your mind gets so twisted that all you can think about is getting back to that high. During the pandemic, I thought a lot about that time in my life and saw a lot of parallels with life in quarantine, where all I wanted was to get back to the way things were pre-COVID, no matter the cost.”
The thing that really saved me was leaning into the music I loved as a kid. Back to basics—singing, playing guitar, and writing songs, every day. I realized I wanted to bring more of those elements into my more recent electronic sound and create something organic and grandiose and heartfelt that tells my personal story and connects my past and my present.”
This stylistic shift is indicative of what fans can expect from his newly announced sophomore album, which is set to be released later this summer. In the official music video for “High Water,” Wu replicates a slow, drug-induced haze by filming the entire visual underwater. The artist did all of the underwater scenes without special effects, nose plugs, or oxygen tanks. After filming for 12 hours in a pool, Wu was sick for three days after the shoot.
“High Water” is out now; the video is available on 88rising‘s YouTube channel.
Featured Image: Alex Lopes