Wingtip Embraces the Bittersweet in "Happiness" Video [PREMIERE]
Though it's been a relatively quiet year for folk-influenced disco-pop producer Wingtip, he by no means is slowing down. After leaving Republic Records, he independently released "Broken Bones," the video for which he shot himself on a Super 8 camera. As a newly-independent artist, Nicholas Perloff-Giles chose to donate a proportion of the proceeds to LGBTQ charity The Ally Coalition, a benevolent collaboration he's seeking to do more of since taking on ownership of his masters. With the release of "Happiness," he continues to forge a path for himself that gracefully balances his electronic production and folk influences, woven together by his earnest, confessional lyrics.
"This is one of those songs that just sort of wrote itself - I was just thinking about myself and my friends and conversations we had had about finding satisfaction and savoring the moments of joy in life, and this phrase 'if you find happiness, hold on to it' just came into my head."
Tongue-in-cheek and embittered with an attitude met equally by lighthearted sarcasm and forlorn longing, the video for "Happiness," directed by Kristen Brancaccio, depicts the stereotypical story arc of love found and eventually lost. An old stereo contrasts two sets of deceptively modern-looking headphones in the opening scene as pairs of people take a seat to listen with the same listless energy of the faces that populate a Monday morning subway ride.
Soon enough, the couples exchange glances, sneaking furtive glimpses at one another as the pre-chorus builds to the inevitable hand-holding and climactic first kiss timed to land at precisely the first drop. The plotline continues as expected, moving from blinding adoration and infatuation to disgruntled apathy and discord at an alarmingly fast rate. Or is it merely reflective of the increasingly common yet destructive habit of attaching and detaching too often and too quickly?
Though "Happiness" mourns the pitfalls and struggles of love, especially forced affection - "Cause most of us are bad at it/ Got aching ribs from faking it" - finding true happiness, despite the risk of mere temporary bliss, is enough of a cause to persevere. Despite the stress of uncertainty in relationships and life, Perloff-Giles embraces it with honesty and grace, encouraging, "And even if it dissolves/ It’s still better than nothing at all/ So if you find happiness/ Hold on to it, yeah."
Admittedly resigned but not without hope, "Happiness" welcomes listeners with open arms for anyone still willing to take the risk to fall into them.
Watch the video for "Happiness" below:
