Video: Ian Sweet, ‘Drink the Lake’

S.Lo on January 12th, 2021

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Jilian Medford was over the breakup of her past relationship and ready to move on empowered in her solitude, but the trauma from it wasn’t done with her. The artist, who writes under the nom de tune Ian Sweet, took a break from music when panic attacks grew more severe. A two-month outpatient program helped her mine the depths of unresolved emotions and find new ways of freeing herself from them.

The singer-songwriter shares one technique in her new single, “Drink The Lake,” out today via Polyvinyl. The song “taps into my own twisted logic to try and break away from obsessive thought patterns. It turned into a pop anthem of seemingly silly ways to try and forget someone, like saying their name backwards, but I feel these devices contributed to my healing.” It begins in a slow burn about wading through the depths of darkness. The video, directed by Sweet, shows her buoyed half above murky waters dressed in a suit. “Take love away you’ll have / your whole life to live / without the fear of dying,” is one of her poignant opening lines about being better alone than in bad company. The chorus opens up into a veritable rocker as Sweet repeats the mantra, “I’ll start saying your name backwards so I’ll forget it.” The visuals end with suited young men engaging in fisticuffs behind her on the shore, while waters remain calm where she floats and keeps up the meditation.

Sweet’s third album, “Show Me How You Disappear,” is out March 5.

||| Watch: The video for “Drink the Lake”