Stranger Every Day describes an awkward reunion between former friends that’s plagued by nostalgia, lingering love, and a tentative desire for reconnection... despite their self-inflicted alienation.
The nostalgic sounds of pop-rock and singer/songwriter tracks of the 2000s combines with lush layered vocals to create a sound that's both fresh, and a trip down memory lane.
Exploring the familiar fulfillment and failures of friendship, Stranger Every Day challenges the societal focus on romance. Do our friends shape us just as much – if not more than – our partners? And can the loss of a friend cut deeper than any romantic heartbreak?
The lyric video for Stranger Every Day pairs the song’s lyrics with the nostalgic look of digital collage.
The lyric video is the culmination of months of collecting, cutting, scanning, and distressing assets from magazines, papers, and photos.
Each element was assembled into a stop-motion animated graphic, and layered with others to create a moving digital collage.
The rustic rough aesthetic evokes the joy and nostalgia of childhood arts and crafts, while the stop-motion animation mirrors familiar childhood pastimes. In combination, they evoke the forgotten comforts of youth reminisced about in Stranger Every Day.
The visuals also remind us that we’re a collage of all our emotions and experiences - many which we share with friends.
Stranger Every Day - Lyric Video
“[Stranger Every Day] seamlessly blends upbeat forward motion with melancholic undertones, honouring the complex emotional journey of loss.”
Recording the Song
‘Stranger Every Day’ was recorded at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM), as part of a week-long recording session gifted to winners of the Australian Childrens’ Music Foundation National Songwriting Competition.
Every instrument was recorded at AIM, with the exception of some home-recorded vocal layers.
You can see some of the process in this behind-the-scenes video from AIM.