The video for ‘Blowin’ Smoke’, which is only Kacey’s second,
is one that I was very much looking forward to. I hoped that Kacey would treat
it with the same level of understated dry wit that she treats her music and
this song in particular with, and luckily my wishes came true. The desaturation
and vintage crackling film lines that we saw in the video for ‘Merry Go Round’
reappear here, flicking between color and black-and-white, with the
characteristic clinks of glasses and plates that can be heard in the song
elongated and emphasized. As the song tells a vivid story in itself there was
not much need to deviate from that, and certainly Kacey merely builds on what
she has already written.
The video is set in a cheap diner in small town America, and
mainly focuses on Kacey acting as a waitress and singing the lyrics to the
camera in a conversational way, her ability to convey real human mannerisms
during conversation quite remarkable. She is accompanied by the other
characters in the song, while they smoke and chat and serve customers. The feel
of the visuals is very 60s, from the décor to the outfits to the coloring used
on the film, the most effective aspect of it being how it comes across as a
home movie. Even the glossier ‘beauty shots’, standard for all music videos,
fit somewhat into this vein, and particularly the black-and-white parts of the
video appear like a relatives’ home movie from their family collection.
Throughout Kacey’s wry smile is evident, and is makes for a
good, simple but interesting video, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. We
break out of the narrative during the shouting-like bridge, where Kacey is
suddenly in her own clothes, and leading a pack of the waitresses and small
town residents, pumping their fists in the air passionately. I’m not sure it
was necessary to take Kacey out of her character here but it still works.
Overall it’s a good video, and I look forward to seeing more from her as her
career progresses.
You can watch the video for ‘Blowin’ Smoke’ by going to Kacey’s website.
Posted by Vickye (Guest Writer).
If you want to check out my own blog
it's For The Country
Record, and you can follow me on
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