Singer and songwriter Robyn Sherwell shares the music video for her recently released new single To Give Up, taken from her upcoming new album Unfold, due for release on June 18th.
The video narrative plays on a concept of two sides to Robyn within the lyrical conflict of the song ‘To Give Up. We first see a vulnerable hurt version who wants to give up, and then a resilient, fiery version, who chooses to move forward. The video portrays Robyn via different mirror reflections as she confronts these sides of herself, and the broken dreams and distorted reality she needs to piece back together. Eventually rapid cuts and neon flashes blur the two versions and a stronger Robyn moves forward.
Talking about the video, Robyn says it is: I love how disconcerting the layered mirror shots are and how the concept plays on the different sides of ourselves we have to confront in any journey through something challenging. This video has such a variety of colour and set-ups and was so fun to make, and I think that energy comes through too.
Robyn Sherwell is a name that has been on the lips of tastemakers since her debut single Love Somebody became a firm favourite of Lauren Lavernes on BBC Radio 6 and signalled the arrival of a new heart-on-sleeve female singer-songwriter. Follow up single Islander, a dedication to her childhood home of Guernsey, quickly secured support from Huw Stephens and BBC Introducing, catapulting Sherwell onto the latters stage at Glastonbury in June 2015. That same summer, her cover of Fleetwood Macs Landslide was chosen as the soundtrack to the trailer for the film Suffragette. This led to Lauren Laverne making the track her 6Music Recommends Track Of The Week, and Jo Whiley playing it twice in one show on her BBC Radio 2 show. In 2021, the emotive power of her rendition is still turning heads: having caught the attention of Airbnb, the song was placed within the film for their latest major global advertising campaign. While her original songs Low and Love Somebody have been featured on the soundtrack of popular TV shows including Good Trouble and Oprah Winfreys Queen Sugar. 2016 saw the release of her full-length debut album, produced by Bat For Lashes collaborator David Kosten, drawing rapturous reviews; The Guardian hailed Robyn a significant new voice. She became a PRS Momentum funded artist and her first UK headline tour culminated in a sold-out London show. Robyns music has amassed over 20 million cumulative streams, establishing her as a fresh standout voice in the realm of heartfelt confessional electro-pop. After a challenging few years, during which Robyn stepped away from the limelight to focus on co-writing, and among other things becoming a mother, Robyn came back last December with her EP Where Do We Go From Here, which signals the confident return of an artist whos experienced a lot, and is never afraid to express her emotions in beautifully bruised but enveloping melodic electro soul.