WATCH: Kit Major Unveils “When the Drugs Don’t Work”
WATCH: Kit Major Unveils “When the Drugs Don’t Work”
Visually crafted to dream your sorrows away.
Words by: Ysabela De Ocampo
Art-pop songstress Kit Major shares the music video for her single “When the Drugs Don’t Work.” An insightfully vulnerable track about mental health struggles. Kit Major makes the effort to turn her frown upside down, and shares the hauntingly stylish video.
Swirling synths echo in the opening of the track. The dark pop soundscape presents an uneasy vibe while bringing her words to the forefront. “The drugs don’t work, when you’re feeling half alive. Tell me where it hurts, tell me if you wanna cry.” A punching drum beat suddenly drops, and the track shimmers with a bouncing leathery bass. Major’s candid lyricism appeals to those who have dealt with mental health struggles. She is honest and tries to keep the beat light to balance out the heaviness of the message. The track ends with a glitchy electro breakdown as she asks, “Why are you crying if nothing’s wrong?”
“When the Drugs Don’t Work’s” music video is a stylishly haunting hallucination. It focuses on the psychological turmoil and isolation at the heart of the track. Kit Major explores an eerie Alice In Wonderland- type funhouse, she wanders through this representation of her childhood home. Searching for the protagonist, Major finds the heroine. She’s downing teacups of tears and hiding behind bars at the bottom of a bottle of champagne. The video dives into the floating feelings of a mental breakdown with a fever dream lucidity.
Kit Major speaks on the track, “I first wrote this song because I had a major depressive episode in April from everything…COVID, the state of our world, the state of our nation, the fact I also deal with anxiety and depression…everything. I was taking my meds and it still made me feel as if I wasn’t on them, so I wrote down ‘what happens when your drugs don’t work?’ I try, and am still learning, to be as open as possible about my mental state.” Surely many others can relate to the feelings of pressure amidst the global turmoil. “When the Drugs Don’t Work” is her offering to comfort others, while experiencing a cathartic release in the writing process.
This LA based art pop performer uses music as an outlet to sort out her emotions. Kit Major is a Chicago-raised performer, she found her identity in between the lines of her lyrics and in the spotlight of open mics. Now, she opens up about her mental health struggles through theatrical visuals and experimental sounds. Major finds inspiration in David Bowie, Prince, and David Lee Roth. For those who love the electric beats of CharliXCX, and the honest lyricism of Charlotte Lawrence and Billie Eilish, Kit Major is for you. She explores themes of self-discovery, self-worth, mental health, love and finding freedom. Kit Major is excited to share new songs and extends her music as a friend to those who need one.
