Named one of “18 Emerging Artists to Watch in 2018” by Buzzfeed USA, Aucklander Madeline North aka So Below launches the year with a video premiere on leading US website Refinery 29 for her single Close, which also releases through YouTube today.

Going against the grain, the NZ On Air funded video juxtaposes the infectious summertime feel of the single with a darker visual tone. North states, “As the song is definitely more upbeat than my other tracks, I really liked the idea of letting the video take the song into a darker direction. The song itself is about telling someone you need space, so the super simple performance concept works really well to emphasise that solitary stance.” 

Alexa San Roman the video director adds, “When Maddie showed me the song we pretty much were immediately on the same page about what we wanted the video to be.  I thought because the song has such a bright feel to it, a darker aesthetic would be an interesting choice to surprise the viewer with something different to what would be expected.”

Close, a writing collaboration between North and fellow kiwis Chelsea Jade and Sam McCarthy, debuted straight into Spotify’s New Zealand’s prestigious New Music Friday playlist upon its release in November, going on to feature on the NZ Spotify Top 50 Viral Chart. Further propulsion through the blogsphere has led to support from the likes of C-Heads, Earmilk, Idolator, Two Lost Girls and a feature with Nasty Gal. Her cover of Now Now’s SGL has ticked over 250k streams on Spotify and was awarded the honor of being included as one of Radio NZ’s top tracks for 2017.

Looking ahead, So Below will release her forthcoming new single Visions on the 9th of March, in conjunction with her new EP entitled II which releases the same day.