Since 2010, Sammus has built up an impressive body of work. While much of it has been classified under the nerdcore sub-genre, that label often feels a bit reductive for a rapper/producer this versatile. Last week, Don Giovanni Records released Pieces In Space, Sammus’ latest, where she works through complex ideas and emotions with relative ease. Today, The A.V. Club is premiering the video for “Nighttime,” a track that sees Sammus tackling her anxiety head-on. The hook is sung by Sammus’ labelmate Izzy True, and was directed by Faye Orlove. Below are quotes about the song and video from both Sammus and Orlove, and Pieces In Space is available now.
Sammus:
‘Nighttime’ is a song about anxiety. It was the last song I wrote for Pieces In Space (although I made the beat several years ago) so by that point I’d spent considerable time worrying about the album roll-out. During that time I began having panic attacks every night, to the point where I began to dread the sun going down. I figured if I couldn’t stop the anxiety, at least I could write about it. I tapped Izzy to sing the hook because they’re a good friend and a much better singer than I’ll ever be. And Faye brought it all together with this beautiful video about time spent worrying on and offline.
Faye Orlove:
Truly nothing came more naturally to me than creating a treatment for a video about anxiety. It’s about wanting to escape your life and your computer but also realizing your computer facilitates that escapism.