Sydney based technical giants Northlane have released the music video for their song “Heartmachine.” Taken from their ARIA nominated album Mesmer, “Heartmachine” is a deeply personal and intriguing song about the human condition, and comes with the visually striking music video, which was directed by Jason Eshraghian. Made up of Marcus Bridge, Nic Petterson, Jonathon Deiley, Josh Smith, and Alex Milovic, Northlane have been taking their philosophical and progressive metalcore sound around the globe, touring heavily off of the 2017’s surprise-released album, Mesmer. “Heartmachine” completes the Mesmer collection of music videos, as it follows up videos for “Citizen,” “Solar,” and “Colourwave.”
Vocalist Marcus Bridge says “”Heartmachine” is a song about pain, heartbreak and loss. When the heart wants to heal and move forward, anxiety and depression work like a machine to drag you down again and again. I wrote this song in the studio after feeling low for months about a relationship that had fallen apart on top of other personal issues. I almost immediately felt a weight lifted off my chest when I started to release that pain through this song. As I let go of my heartbreak, represented through my relationship with the female character in the music vide, my strength grows and I’m finally able to control my power at the end of it all.”
This is all certainly evident in the lyrics, as it speaks of suffering and how mental issues can begin to take an effect on every aspect of your life: “Body starts to shake. Head begins to spin. Leaves me in its wake. I’m paralyzed with pain.”
The video itself is ridiculously complex, and is one of the more impressive visual spectacles I have seen. It begins as we follow Marcus as he slowly walks around his house as he is visibly in pain. The lights and shadows shown really increase the noticeability of darkness behind the lyrics and set the mood for the track.
Continuing on, Marcus begins to lose control; in the narrative of the video he appears to have some kind of powers that he is currently losing control of because of his mental troubles. He blacks out and begins to have flashbacks of a previous relationship, and when this happens his powers go mad and furniture flies everywhere. This really represents the meaning of the song, and the lack of control that one can feel when dealing with mental issues, particularly after a traumatic experience relationship-wise.
Marcus continues to watch the female character in the video walk away, until he lets her go. As this happens he wakes up and is able to control his powers. He softly sets down all the objects, and this symbolizes the weight of the whole thing lifting off of his shoulders, and the relief that we all feel when we realise we have gotten over such an event and we can move on.
Check out “Heartmachine” with its gorgeously cinematic video.
