In the aftermath of a breakup, time can seem to warp and slow to a crawl. The new reality of singledom requires some patience and serious life adjustments, but no one’s feeling up to it right off the bat. That strange liminal space is the setting for Aaron Taos’ “ILL.” Taos says the video depicts “the familiar mental daze that follows any post-breakup, an introspective place where most of us can’t be bothered with the outside world… it’s about not wanting to leave a certain state of space or time.”
The video, directed by The Tanaka Bros, delivers on that count. We watch the singer from a bird’s eye view, continually spinning as friends stop by to booze and blaze, Chinese is delivered, and parties begin and end.
Taos, however, remains splayed out on the floor in a nearly catatonic state, all motivation sapped from his bones. The visitors can do little to stir him from the stagnation, and it’s not until movers eventually come and cart off everything except for the record player that Taos seems to begin to emerge from his hibernation.
Musically, Taos has created one of the summer’s catchier offerings. His voice is endearingly scratchy, and it sounds well-suited to deliver the song’s central thesis: “I don’t wanna.” It’s well-crafted folk-rock with just a touch of self-deprecating charisma. “Ill” will appear on Taos’ self-produced EP, GUITS, coming later this summer.
