Chosen by Monk
As the rays of light at the end of the dark tunnel that has been the past 16 months of isolation and generally being shit upon from great heights growing brighter by the day, and life starting to return to some sense of nomality, a healthy slew of new music, perhaps more than at any other time in ÜR’s history, continues to ping itself our way, and especially in the continuing tsunami of submissions we receive for our coveted ‘Video Of The Week’ award… Yes, as we’ve said on multiple occasions, one constant throughout the vagaries of inconsistent and often hard to stomach lockdowns is the amazing level of adaptive creativity that bands and video directors the length and breadth of the Überverse have continued to show, often in the most adverse of circumstances.
After viewing all of the entries – and, yes, we did watch each and every one of the 100-plus submissions we received this past week alone – at the end of the day (or night, depending on where you are in the Überverse), there could be only one winner…
And this week it comes from one of the icons of the nu-metal scene, Brian ‘Head’ Welch, best known as guitarist with one of the genre’s most pioneering acts, Korn. Earlier this year, he introduced us to his latest project, Love And Death, which once again saw him pushing musical boundaries with debut album, ‘Perfectly Preserved’. And if you’re looking for further proof of Welch’s ability to not only cross genres but fuse them together, then you don’t have to take another step, as latest single ‘Let Me Love You’ is a passionate and powerful interpretation of the 2017 hit single by French rapper and producer DJ Snake, which saw him collaborate with Justin Beiber (now there’s a name a bet you never thought you would see on ÜR!?)… Continuing the original song’s spirit of collaboration, this version sees a quest contribution from former Flyleaf vocal Lacey Sturm, who also appears in the video, alongside Welch.
Welch told us a bit more about the song:
“LMLY has been one of my favourite tracks to cover. It’s so enjoyable to me making a pop song super heavy! Having three vocalists perform on the track was unique as well and I love the way mine, Lacey and JR [Bareis]’s voices blend together. When I asked Lacey to do the song with us I had no idea what the lyrics would mean to her at that particular time.
“After discovering what she was going through, my main hope with the song was that Lacey would find healing, and that healing might extend to anyone struggling in life who heard the track. The “never give up” message that directors Sebastien Paquet and Alison Roberto worked hard to convey in the music video profoundly mirrored some of the conversations Lacey and I were having behind the scenes, without either director having prior knowledge of the conversations, so we were very blown away by that and we’re so proud of what we achieved here with this song and video.
“Art is so much more powerful than we think.”
Sturm elaborated further:
“Working with Love And Death on ‘Let Me Love You’ was sort of a supernatural experience. I was mourning the loss of a loved one when I recorded the song. Mourning is a multifaceted process and sort of comes in waves. They asked me to do the song at a very dark moment in that process.
“When I went to sing in the studio the lyrics were everything I wanted to sing and scream in response to this death; which felt like such a theft. Sometimes death is beautiful and sometimes it is a thief. I know people who have died from overdose, alcoholism, suicide – yes – but I also know so many people who have overcome these things and are making that story their own ripple effect of hope and life. Brian and I both have lived stories like that; overcoming suicide and addiction.
“For Bieber to sing ‘Let Me Love You’ is inspiring in one way maybe, but for Brian to scream it and to get to scream it alongside him over so many people who are struggling–it’s like I got to believe for people to overcome right in the face of the hopelessness I was tempted to embrace. The same thing happened when I did the video. I needed it. Right at that moment. It was like the author of life loved me while death was trying to suffocate me. I got to let God love me through this sacred echo of a song. I’m so thankful.”
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