Late last summer, Nathan Honoré—a Milwaukee singer-songwriter who performs under the Next Paperback Hero namesake—released his debut full-length. That album, the self-recorded Morning Skies & Heavy Eyes, found the multi-instrumentalist providing vocals and playing guitar, piano, synth, percussion, ukulele, and mandolin on nine meticulously crafted songs that span about 35 minutes in total.
Now more than four months removed from casting that well-received record into the world, Honoré is giving a song from the album an ambitious video treatment. With the help of Milwaukee videographer Joe Ludwig, closing track “Don’t Take My Energy” gets a visual pairing that’s just as emotionally evocative as the song itself. The video features Honoré reflecting in solitude as he takes in the scenery near the General Mitchell International Airport, at various spots in Bay View, and select sites downtown. In addition to the Milwaukee settings, Honoré can also be seen playing guitar at Towne Cinema in Watertown. While the locations are disparate, they were all selected to fit a larger narrative.
“I wanted the whole thing to feel like Nathan is alone in the world, mirroring how he wrote and recorded the song and album in isolation,” Ludwig says. “We seldom see other people throughout the video, but when we do, they’re either far away or appear as silhouettes. We were lucky enough to film at the Towne Cinema in Watertown, and I’m happy we were able to exhibit loneliness with Nathan strumming in an empty auditorium.”
Before Next Paperback Hero’s show with Jorge Vallentine and Anja Elise at Anodyne’s Walker’s Point Roastery on Friday, January 28, you can (and absolutely should!) watch the video for “Don’t Take My Energy” below.