The Canadian artist confronts his own mortality in the Avery Steadman directed music video for “Stranger” (prod. tax purposes)
Unmistakable for his bright red hair and long, painted fingernails, Smrtdeath has found his niche in the intersection between emo, pop, and rap with songs like “Motorolla,” and “Pretty Carcass.” His distinct voice and lyrical style — and his trademark “yeah, yeah”s — have attracted a fiercely loyal fanbase whose devotion to “lil death” rivals even the most hardcore of underground music enthusiasts.
Fresh off of a tour with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, the Canadian-born Smrtdeath has teamed up with producer Tax Purposes on a new single, “Stranger.”
The first major release since his album “We’ll Be Alright” in late 2018, “Stranger” takes on a darker motif than most of the tracks on his last project, which includes the bouncy singles “Yung Disaster” and “Ice Out My Bones.” A reflection on drugs, depression, and suicide, “Stranger” mourns a loss of self amidst a self-hatred that refuses to be quelled.
Smrtdeath sings, “I’ve been fucked up, I can’t change it. Everyone’s a stranger. Baby, I’m a stranger,” against a guitar-based melody punctuated with synths and distortion. Tax Purposes’ unpredictable arrangement helps Smrtdeath create an atmosphere that feels as disorienting as he proclaims it to be.
In the visual directed by Avery Stedman, Smrtdeath stretches this stranger metaphor as he encounters his own self as another character. And it is in this stranger version of himself that he confronts his own mortality. While he sings from a hospital bed, his double keeps vigil at his bedside, and in wandering the halls of the hospital, he finds himself prostrate on a coroner’s table.
As he traverses the hospital, his own autopsy, and his prepared corpse, he comes to terms with the idea of a life ended. “Ain’t no Holy Ghost, I’ll just be gone,” Smrtdeath sings. And he isn’t embarrassed or shy about the struggles he thinks will be his undoing. In fact he’s hidden them in plain sight, “I left these notes in all my songs.”
At the song’s end, Smrtdeath’s dead body bleeds from the mouth as he sings to viewers, “You don’t know nothing, yeah, you told me what?” Sometimes, he reminds us, we just don’t want to be saved, and even the most well-intentioned advice from friends can fall on deaf ears.
With more new music on the way and an upcoming tour, Smrtdeath shows no signs of slowing down soon. “Stranger” seems like the mark of a new direction for the artist, but only time will tell where Smrtdeath’s creative energy will take him next. Check out his morbid video for “Stranger” below.