Creating something unique and different than anything else you might come across in music is so difficult nowadays. Once someone hears something new on the internet, it feels like their first instinct is to go and mimic that style to try and beat you to the punch in terms of originality, but some types of music are just way too hard to replicate, and Mia Gladstone seems to be one of those musicians that you couldn’t recreate if you tried a billion times.
Although I’m not super familiar with her, I am thoroughly impressed with what I’ve heard so far, and her latest single “OPEN LETTER” featuring Teezo Touchdown is truly one-of-a-kind. In all honesty, seeing Teezo’s name in the subject line of the press release email I received is what drew me in, but seeing the little gif from this track’s music video is all I needed to experience the record in its entirety. The song is actually self-produced by Mia, as she produces all of her music, and her delivery seems to be a cross between new-age pop and those old-school bebops you might hear at the end of a black-and-white movie from the early 1900s.
Teezo’s verse is just as distinctive thanks to a bubbly delivery, a plethora of vocal alterations, and his one-and-only personality that never fails to win listeners over. The William Alan Harris-directed music video might just be the most unique visual I’ve ever seen, and I’ve watched thousands of music videos throughout my life. The story is original and intriguing in and of itself, but it’s the videographic style used that I was blown away by.
While watching, it almost feels like you’re rapidly rotating through a flip book as the choppy style ensues. Not only this, but various different animations are used, and the Claymation shown throughout combines with the charm of the jerky motion used throughout. All in all, this song made me an instant fan of Mia’s, and the music video leveled that fandom up to unspeakable levels, making this a release that you absolutely need to experience as soon as you possibly get the chance.