Video: Luna Shadows, ‘The Nineties’

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Luna Shadows (Photo by Thomas Powers)

Luna Shadows‘ latest single “The Nineties” pays homage to youth in the ’90s through the lens of an 8-bit video game, while the song muses on fears — specifically, how the things that scared her then seem trivial to her current fears.

“I’ll never forget the safety of sitting in front of the TV with my older brother in the ’90s, playing original Nintendo, when my first irrational fears arrived: quicksand and lava,” says the artist born Natalie Angiuli. “Now, I worry about everything all the time. I never imagined that I would view any fear with any sense of fondness, but I have managed to miss these fears. Sometimes I fantasize that one day, future me will look back at my current anxieties with the same bent nostalgia.”

The music video, directed and shot by the artist, opens with the familiar Sega Genesis font, only it doesn’t say “SEGA,” it says “LUNA.” Immediately following the opening, Shadows is thrown into a 2D ’90s video game avoiding the perilous quicksand and enemies. The animation was done by Jori Teplitzky and Lu Nasciamento.

“The Nineties” is hauntingly chill but also kind of poppy and very catchy. With old video game effects sampled and a reverb acoustic piano, this tune is oozing with nostalgia. Despite the lyrical content, the tune feels upbeat and even dancey.

Shadows lightly sings “On the list of things that just might kill me / you’re right behind quicksand in the Nineties.” Drawing a comparison between the simple fears of adolescence to the impending doom we’re experiencing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Shadows establishes a commonality that spans generations, regardless of age.

The L.A.-based native of New York released her first EP, “Summertime,” in 2016, following the next year with “Youth,” featuring the single “Thorns.”  Since then, she’s released a host of singles, including 2020 highlights “Palm Springs,” which features In.Drip, and “Millenia,” a collaboration written with Chelsea Jade that was produced by Bradley Hale of Now Now and Thomas Powers of the Naked & Famous.

All three songs are to be featured on her forthcoming album, “Digital Pacific,” set to release later this year.

||| Watch: The video for “The Nineties”

||| Also: Stream “Palm Springs” and “Millennia”