Poignant, heart-felt, and achingly raw, Perth alternative pop band Joan & The Giants confront mental health and the societal stigma attached to asking for help when you're not okay with their latest release, 'Just For You' – a song that is deeply personal for the group.
An emotionally-charged single, 'Just For You' was written in the midst of Perth's first lockdown last year when the brother of a close friend of front-woman Grace Newton-Wordsworth lost his long battle with depression succumbing to suicide."I wrote 'Just For You' for my friend who lost her brother Jadon Wilder after our first lockdown in Perth; tragically, he could no longer fight a very long battle with depression," Grace says.
"At the time, I was really worried about my friend as I know she has faced many of her own battles with mental health, and I wanted to reach out and send my love, so I wrote her this song to let her know how valued and precious she is."
While the song vividly paints a picture of depression and the destructive nature of its reach, Joan & The Giants have created a music video that builds on the message the four-piece want to espouse and promote to the wider community – that asking for help is not a weakness but a strength that should be encouraged.
"When I sent 'Just For You' to Steve Browne the director," adds Grace, "he listened and came up with such a beautiful vision for the video – which draws attention to mental health, depression and suicide in a storyline of a baby growing up into a man centred in a small, claustrophobic space that was once a home.
"It breaks my heart seeing this beautiful child grow up, and feel more and more disconnected in the world he's in. The ending is a relief, smashing through the walls and letting some light into that space and escaping the isolated room."
Ahead of its release tomorrow (30 September), scenestr is honoured to premiere the 'Just For You' music video today.
In loving memory of Jadon Peter Wilder, the music video centres around the journey of a man, from infancy to adulthood. It's a journey that shows how an illness like depression can make a person feel claustrophobic in their own skin and distanced from those who care about them.
"I wanted to capture moving photographs of the different stages of Jadon's life, without context or background, and place them inside a claustrophobic diorama mantle piece to show the stage of depression setting in and how isolating that feels," Steve says.
Opening the clip and setting the underlying theme is the following statement: 'Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians between 15 and 44 years of age.'
Adds Grace: "This song and video are completely centred around mental health; pretty much every person I know is struggling with something: anxiety, depression, sadness, loneliness – we're all going through something.
"I wanted to put a song and video out that continues to break the stigma around the mental health conversation, as so many people are afraid to talk about what they're going through, and that breaks my heart.
"It is completely okay not to be okay, and it's completely okay to reach out and get help. It's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's a sign of strength.
"We wanted to pay our respect to Jadon and dedicate the video to him, as he was such a kind and loving person who had to fight depression for years. It's very real what people go through, and it needs to be talked about.
"Let's keep smashing through 'the walls', a representation of the stigma surrounding this conversation."
Joan & The Giants 2021 Tour Dates
Fri 1 Oct - The River (Margaret River)Sun 3 Oct - Clancy's Fish Pub (Dunsborough)
Sat 16 Oct - Raising The Vibe Festival (Busselton)
Sat 19 Dec - Sunday Music @ Fremantle Arts Centre
