“It was the first track written for this album,” explains Haley Grant of The Harmaleighs about their new song, “Anthem for the Weak.” It comes from the Nashville duo’s forthcoming sophomore full-length, She Won’t Make Sense, which is due on August 2 via Nettwerk Records.
“The original thought and melody for the song came to me during a rehearsal. My friend brought over his resonator guitar, and I started messing around with it,” Grant continues. “Almost immediately, I felt the song coming to me like magic. I’m not much of a co-writer kind of person, so I took the guitar into my bedroom and said I’d be right back. I wrote the first verse and chorus in a matter of minutes.”
The results are a warm and intimate tune with vocals that play as though Grant is whispering lyrics into your ear. A lilting melody and dreamy instrumentation buoy the confessions that reflect her recent mental health journey.
“‘Anthem’ is about listening heavily to the voice in your head,” Grant reveals. “She talks so much and sometimes it’s like hearing your favorite song. She’s so easy to tune into, even though she can be so toxic. This song sparked the idea of referring to my mental health as ‘Susan’ and putting a character to her.”
When it came time to create a video for the track, Grant and her bandmate Kaylee Jasperson didn’t have to venture too far from home to find the ideal locale.
“We shot the music video in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee, which is about an hour south of Nashville. The warm colors of the buildings and ‘pleasant’ name reminded us of Susan, who at first comes off as your friend with loads of advice,” Grant explains. “We based the concept around Razor scooters, because when I was going through my darkest path, my therapist told me I needed a hobby. For some reason, scootering was the only thing I could think of. That blue scooter in the music video must have two hundred plus miles on it. For the cherry on top, [director Ruth Chapa] adjusted the colors to be most pleasant and appealing to the eye.”
Watch the admittedly pleasant and appealing music video below. She Won’t Make Sense drops August 2.
