Submarines haven’t inspired much in the way of contemplative art. Sure, there’s The Hunt for Red October, and Explosions in the Sky’s “Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean” took its inspiration from the shipwreck of a Russian sub in 2000. And while both are riveting in their own panicked way, I’m not sure that you get much of a sense of what the people who made those works are like. In other words, for all of their depth-plumbing abilities, submarines are so foreign and frankly claustrophobic that it’s hard to de-mystify them and use them for our own artistic ends.
All of which is a long way of saying that Aidan Knight’s video for “What Light,” which finds him milling about below deck and fulfilling a fairly average existence—swabbing the floors, reading in his bunk, eating in the mess hall—is both oddly comforting and oddly uncomfortable. On the one hand, there’s something pleasant about seeing the Victoria, BC, native go about his business with such ease. The song’s easygoing sense of humor—“I’m not in love,” he sings in the opening couplet, “with the sound of my voice”—feels at home, apace. But you can’t shake the idea that something is going to happen, some foreign intrusion intent upon shaking this perfectly contained vessel.
But then, what’re the chances of that?
You can find out below in our premiere of the video for “What Light,” which was taken from January’s Each Other.
Each Other is out now via Outside Music.
