Cincinnati, OH – Sungaze are examining nostalgia without rose-colored glasses. “I’m No Longer Afraid of Heights”, the alternative band’s fullest exploration of Midwest emo to date, is a poetic track that juxtaposes the warmth of childhood memory with the stagnation of adulthood left unlived. The single and climactic music video arrive on April 10, with the album to follow on May 22.
Opening with slide guitar floating atop the steady beat of drums and acoustic guitar, the track immediately calls to mind those long summer days of childhood, when the world felt full of possibility. The controlled release of the first chorus shifts the tone from one of comfort and safety to one of resigned hopelessness, despite vocalist Ivory Snow’s delivery of the second verse being much the same as the first. The poignant bridge acts as a moment of clarity, confronting time’s indifference and propelling the protagonist of the story away from resignation and toward inspired action.
The music video draws from real memory while remaining intentionally symbolic. Set in a small Ohio town along the banks of the Little Miami, it contrasts warm childhood imagery with adult routine and loss, using water, movement, and live performance as parallel paths toward release. Its dual ending cuts between Snow in office attire, floating serenely in a childhood river spot, and Snow in a white lace dress, surfing the crowd at a Sungaze show.
Says Snow of the music video, “It was important to us to film the video in the real life settings that inspired it. We filmed over the course of three days. Day one was mostly spent working with our kid actors, and filming the office-attire scenes. Day two was filming the outdoor performance and narrator scenes which involved sneaking into a gravel pit yard and walking the streets of the small town where I grew up. The corner store in the video is the very same that is mentioned in the first verse. The third day was the live show, which was shot at Madison Live in Covington, KY, across the river from Cincinnati. To get the slow motion effect, we had to perform the song at 2x speed, which made for a humorous experience. I think we were all thankful that we play relatively slow music.”
To prepare the audience participants for their scene on Day 3, a last minute showing was arranged. Snow continues, “Before filming kicked off, we set up a projector and screened a preview of the video for the audience, ending with the river scene right before the first live show shot. The room was dead silent for a few seconds after the preview ended, before erupting into applause. A few people were wiping their eyes. Screening the video in that way felt a bit more vulnerable than expected and it was gratifying to see it received so well.”
