Melo claws her way to freedom.
A lot of life can be lived in three years. For grunge-pop singer Alexa Melo, that means plenty of love and heartbreak nearly tearing her limb from limb. With her first single in the same amount of time, a grim and greasy mid-tempo called “Dope Sick,” in which she plots a pilgrimage through past memories, Melo claws her way out of the muck to reclaim her life. “Baby boy, you know I’m gonna survive,” she promises on the opening lyric, stained with minimalist production, a rather ghoulish beginning. “But what’s the point / I’d acquire a taste for a different kind of hurt.”
Melo’s misery hangs on her tongue, and as she goes for a mid-afternoon drive down the highway, tears flow down and flush her porcelain cheeks. Flashes of the past, cherished moments, mostly, come in and out of view, almost in a boozy haze. “Baby, I don’t want these withdraw symptoms to subside,” she later concedes, “because that means I’ve learned to live without you.” The beat drops, and her voice cuts even deeper. “Dope Sick” is solo produced by Melo. Daniel Garcia helms the accompanying visual, premiering today.
On the song, she explains to Popdust, detailing quite a tragic past, “I grew up around substance abuse, and in my breakup I noticed similarities in addictive, masochistic behavior. It’s about almost dreading the day the withdrawal ends because even though it sucks, the healing will officially signify that you are truly alone again.”
The music video (watch above) ⎯⎯ strewn with needle-point and macabre-bent footage, reaching a climax when Melo admits herself to a rehab facility, where she dons a straight jacket ⎯⎯ cruelly displays what pain and recovery can feel like. It’s a penetrating sequence of events, and Melo’s performance is chilling. “Making the video was not easy,” says Melo. Daniel and I were the only two people on the crew. With such a small budget, we had to trespass, pull favors, and work our asses off. It was intense to reenact the pain of what the song was written about. Still, making this video was some of the most fun I’ve ever had making art.”
“Dope Sick” samples Melo’s forthcoming new EP, Mute, is coming out October 12
Jason Scott is a freelance music journalist with bylines in B-Sides & Badlands, Billboard, PopCrush, Ladygunn, Greatist, AXS, Uproxx, Paste and many others. Follow him on Twitter.
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