Kevin Bronson on February 27th, 2016

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“Oceans,” the five-minute meditation that ends Miya Folick’s debut EP “Strange Darling,” is a haunting emotional purge in which the singer-songwriter wrestles with turmoil before ultimately deciding “I think I should let myself breathe / I think I should leave myself be / to sleep, to dream, at the end of the day.” The new video for the song is set in that ostensibly discomfiting dream state. Inspired by Yvonne Rainer’s minimalist dance and Japanese horror films, the video finds Folick expressing her inner battles in choreographed movement. It was directed in shadowy black-and-white by Matthew Anderson and choreographed by Caitlin Adams. The song is about “fighting off the fear and panic that can haunt you when you’re flirting with potential and desire,” Folick told Bob Boilen of NPR, where the video premiered. “It’s about feeling like a loser/imposter/phony/fraud/fake — all those terrible conversations you have with yourself. But, it’s also a lullaby — a salve — meant to help carry you off into a dream.” Like visions in a dream, Folick’s improvised movements seem haphazard and foreboding, manifestations of the song’s quavering vocals. Here’s hoping she has some good nights’ sleep ahead.

||| Watch: The video for “Oceans”