Annie Booth – Magic 8 (Video Premiere)

Following the release of her 2017 debut, An Unforgiving Light, Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Annie Booth is currently gearing up for the release of her Spectral EP. Set for release via Scottish Fiction and Last Night from Glasgow, the EP – produced by Chris McCrory (Catholic Action, Siobhan Wilson) – will be multifarious with a limited edition 12” purple vinyl for Record Store Day (13 Apr), and worldwide digital and CD releases following on 10 May.

The Skinny are delighted to be premiering the video for the EP’s lead single Magic 8 which you can watch in the above YouTube player (click here if it’s not displaying correctly). Of the single, Booth tells us: "Magic 8 came about at a point in my life where I was feeling a bit stuck. I’d been messing around with guitar tunings and wrote it very quickly and instinctively – it was surprising how it seemed to emerge fully-formed. It’s quite a folky, mellow song but it’s also far more bittersweet and melancholy than it first appears to be. The sparse production ended up suiting the emotion of the track, I think.

"Musically," Booth continues, "I’ve been really influenced by artists such as Kathryn Joseph, Phoebe Bridgers, Damien Jurado and Thom Yorke of late. Rachel Sermanni’s Gently EP also really resonated with me."

Directed by Joe McTernan with cinematography by Troy Edige, Booth tells us about the inspiration behind the video: "The song made me picture someone who was feeling quite lost and despondent, which can of course manifest in a variety of ways. We wanted to capture how strange the passage of time can feel when you’re overwhelmed by feelings like that, as well as how lonely it can be. We shot in one room which seemed to create quite an isolated effect."

"I really enjoyed working with Annie as we collaborated a lot in order to get an idea we were both passionate about," McTernan tells us. "I always find the experience of directing a music video is much more rewarding when the musician is heavily involved in the conceptualisation. The continuous flow from shot to shot suitably reflects the track and the aspects of the concept we were trying to achieve. When a person is in that state of mind, life can seem to blur and days bleed into each other, so we wanted to reflect that visually. We also wanted the video to be subjective for the viewer – it’s not so much about the plot but more the emotion that comes from the visuals."

---

Spectral is released on limited edition 12” purple vinyl, 13 Apr; CD and digital, 10 May
Annie Booth plays Oran Mor, Glasgow, 15 Apr; The Blue Arrow, Glasgow, 26 Apr; Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, 10 May