Erich Mrak Doesn’t Disappoint in New Video “See You in September”
By Deuce
Just when it seems like you can’t do any more in less than three minutes than sing a pop song, out comes Erich Mrak’s “See You in September”, a visual. In just two minutes and 54 seconds, the crooner manages to cram in a music video, two songs, myriad frantic images, and some well-timed harmonies to seemingly shatter the barriers of what can be done in the span of a pop record.
“September” is a music video amalgamating two of Mrak’s songs, “Navigate” and “Riptide”. At first, it may seem difficult to tell these numbers apart as they’re both characterized by plodding tempos, sparse tracks, the pensive tension of Mrak’s mournful, melodic singing, and production from Toronto’s Bento.
Nonetheless, these similarities are simply indicative of Mrak’s dedication to the type of mood music for which he is swiftly becoming known. Dude vibes hard, so much so that his words, the tunes, and the tracks themselves become contemporary incantations, or perhaps wistful reflections of a life the artist is experiencing first hand.
It’s difficult to determine which is more striking about “September”, the visuals or the audio. The former is certainly unusual. Directed, shot and edited by Maxym Perron, co-directed by Kenya Walters, starring Will Verreault Milner, and written by Mrak himself, the video contrasts an assortment of images sure to grab viewers’ attention.
In a matter of seconds the protagonist goes from what appears to be stranded on some sort of desert island—in which he’s rapidly looking about, seemingly as lost and without understanding of how he got there as the viewer is—to doing so in what might be any urban metropolis, to smoothly maneuvering an Audi down slick city streets.
As the songs change and he disembarks, he appears to partake in a drug deal, gets high, loses his job, and seemingly unravels. Meanwhile, the counterpoint to all of this desultory activity is the music and Mrak’s vocals, both of which help to provide a sense of staid reassurance to the aforementioned whirlwind.
Perhaps the one drawback of assembling so many different elements in so little time as “September” does is the viewer isn’t privy to either “Navigate” or “Riptide” in their entirety. Particularly because of the visuals illustrating them, it would have been interesting to learn exactly how each cut ends to perhaps gain a greater understanding of the significance of the imagery in “September”. As it stands it’s more than a little piquant, as are the songs comprising this effort.
