talker (the alias of Los Angeles singer-songwriter Celeste Taucher) knows that telling the truth can be hard. Still, backed by jittery pop beats and indie guitar riffs, she does it, conveying vulnerability through open writing and catchy choruses that stay with you long after the song is gone. Take her new track “Old Enough” as an example, a song she tells PAPER came from the most “open and honest writing that I’ve ever put out there.” Today, she premiers the visuals here along with exclusive backstage photos. “This video was honestly really challenging to conceptualize,” she says. “The song itself is about having difficult conversations with the important people in your life. I wanted to visually convey that plus the internal struggle of feeling like you can't speak up and you're getting in your own way of being vulnerable.”
In the video talker is sitting in a modern-day confessional booth while a range of characters telephone her on the other side. Eventually, she ends up in the confessional with herself. “The confessional booth represents a need to connect and share, but with a block,” she says. “Sometimes the other person isn't listening, but sometimes it's my own lack of ability to express myself in a healthy way. By the end of the video, I'm finally out of the booth and able to be freely out there on the stage, totally seen.”
The track is the first sample of talker’s upcoming debut album I’m Telling You The Truth. Below, she tells us more about “Old Enough,” what fans can look forward to next and the power of communicating vulnerability.
What motivated you to write "Old Enough," what did you want the song to convey?
The concept of being old enough, or grown, or whatever, is often up for debate. What does it actually mean to grow up? In my opinion, it doesn't mean much. The main difference between someone who is fully realizing themselves versus someone with a lot more self-work to do is being able to communicate and express your needs in a healthy way. The lyric "When will I be old enough to tell you I can't be everything you need?" asks, when will I finally grow up and set this boundary and express this need?
I think a crucial key to this, though, is also that balance of wanting to make sure that you're coming at these conversations from a place of love and empathy. In the bridge, I go into how I want to express these needs, but I also want to make sure that whoever I'm talking to is understood and loved and that we need to come to a place that benefits the relationship.
Honestly, the song just came from being in a fight with a friend and feeling unable to express myself. Of course, she was feeling all the same things, we just were both too afraid to communicate. When we finally did, it made our relationship even stronger.
How do you hope listeners feel when they hear the track?
We tried to really make this song have a lot of dynamic shifts, mirroring the complex emotions and dynamics in our intimate relationships. Whether it's a friend, a partner, family, there are a lot of complicated variables. I want listeners to feel simultaneously like they have an outlet to scream out the frustrating emotions that come up in these moments, but also to be heard and understood in that it's not always so cut and dry. The feeling of, "Hey, I love you, and you're also making me feel this way right now."
What was the most challenging or fun part of making the music video?
The most challenging and fun part of making the music video was building the confessional booth. I'm a little obsessive when it comes to my visuals and I also just really love to make things and prove to myself that I can execute big ideas on a DIY budget. I drew up the plans for this booth then borrowed my friend's truck and went to Home Depot to get six massive melamine boards. I was a little unprepared and had four very kind men help me lift them into my cart but I managed to make it work.
We built the booth the day of, directly on the stage, because it was way too big to build and then transport. I honestly was a little unsure that it was going to work and was like "Oh god please let my time and money and my friends' physical labor have been worth it." But it turned out exactly how I saw it in my head, which was a huge relief.
What are you excited about releasing next?
I'm releasing my debut album I'm Telling You the Truth on June 21st! I've been poorly keeping it a secret the past few months, but with this song I'm officially putting that information out into the ether. I've been releasing music for a few years but it never felt like the right time to do a full album, until now. I'm so proud of this work and feel really confident that if this is the first time someone hears talker, they're getting an accurate picture of what the inside of my brain sounds like at this time in my life.
Photography: Emma Cole
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