When we talk about singer-songwriters, we typically envision the recluse, crucifying himself and his demons onstage, woefully strumming away at an acoustic guitar. But for Athens-based Patrick Brick — otherwise known as Futo — playful lo-fi electropop is just as effective as an acoustic guitar for confronting his own demons.

2015 saw the release of Futo’s I Wish I Had Been Born as the Rain That Forms Rivers That Carve Out Canyons, which tackled questions about death, uncertainty, and longing. Last week, Flagpole premiered the video for “Green,” the lead single from the follow-up LP Futo’s Greatest Hits, and Brick makes it clear that he isn’t ashamed of his confessional songwriting and isn’t going to shy away from “real-life’ subject matter.

“Green” revisits the sparse instrumentation that Futo is known for, and signals a return to the melancholic nature of I Wish I Had Been Born. It’s intimate, but fertile. Nostalgic, but hopeful. “I watched your mother cry / She wore green just for you / Just for you / Just for you,” Brick laments again and again, deconstructing faint images of a late friend’s funeral.

The video, directed by Zak Washburn, is as striking as the song is dismal. Brick stands bare before the camera while a mysterious viscous liquid drips onto his head, rolling over his face and into his eyes. Says Brick about the video:

“I didn’t have a real idea for it until like 30 minutes before we started filming. We slowed the song down like 25 percent, so the shot ended up being like 8 minutes straight. And once we started, we couldn’t stop without having to start from the very beginning, which neither of us wanted to do.”

Futo’s Greatest Hits is out April 20.

More Info
Bandcamp: futo.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @FutoPoop