We're in a time of high anxiety, as the world adapts to the confusing lifestyle changes brought on by the spread of coronavirus. Budapest-born, London-based R&B artist Babé Sila addresses the all-consuming power that anxiety can have over the mind and body in her song and video for "Hole," premiering today on PAPER. And yet, there's a hopeful message of resilience.
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The video, directed by Dora Riederauer, begins with Sila trapped in a feathery, cone-like structure. She takes gradual movements toward fluid dance, having escaped confinement. Wearing all white and twirling her floor-length braid, she becomes a symbol of freedom, and dances and sings about positivity when all hope feels lost: "When your world is upside-down, you put your arms up to the ground."
"Hole," a smooth, jazz-infused track, offers a positive, timely message. "My only hope is that the song brings some good vibes and positive energy to people — just as it did to me," Sila says. "If it perhaps also nudges somebody to pay a bit more attention to their mental health, to protect and nurture themselves, then that would make me even happier."
She continues: "I wrote 'Hole' in the middle of an anxiety attack. It's not something that happens to me often but I decided I would distract myself from the obsessive and negative feelings and thoughts with creating something wholly opposite: something joyful, playful, warm and beautiful."
Stream "Hole" by Babé Sila, below.
Photography: Dora Riederauer