For Doll Spirit Vessel’s Kati Malison, time is a slippery thing. The present moment is always fading, turning over, melting. It’s tempting to ignore this constant state of loss, but on “What Stays,” the intimate, slow-burning title track from the indie rock trio’s forthcoming debut album, Malison chooses to face it head on.
“You wake up on a Tuesday and can’t recall waking up last Tuesday, or even yesterday,” she shares. “You can barely bring into focus the wisps of a dream you just woke up from. We all lose the present moment as it instantly, eternally, and ceaselessly vanishes. We all forget, and we all remember things differently than they actually were. Worst of all, however warped our own memories, we are infinitely less able to inhabit the experiences of others, past and present. ‘What Stays’ was one of the last songs I wrote for this album—it grieves the loss of both my own life as it passes, and the lives of the people I love, which I can never come close enough to knowing.”
The accompanying visual finds Malison and her bandmates Max Holbrook and Lewis Brown trying to freeze time—literally and figuratively. “The visuals for this album and for the ‘What Stays’ music video center around sculptures of objects frozen in clear ice,” says Malison. “Most of the objects I collected [were] from my childhood home and my mom’s garden, but my friends also offered up knick knacks from their own past for me to freeze. Shooting ice forces you to work quickly, trust your instincts, and accept whatever you’re able to get before it melts.”
You can check out the icy production below, and pre-order What Stays—out August 12 via Disposable America—here.
