Rei Brown Draws Upon Love Of Film For “Honest” Video

Rei Brown has a way of hypnotizing you into moody, musical wonderlands. In the case of his new song “Honest,” co-written with Diamond Pistols, his voice sails across a serene landscape. His voice remains always barbed and brooding, as he finally confesses the truth about a long-dead relationship. “I never loved you, if I’m honest,” he sings. “I know this isn’t what we promised, promised / Thought you could be the one I wanted / But you’re so far.”

The accompanying music video, directed by Jess Farran, alongside cinematographer Patrick Golan, fully banks into Brown’s emotional exhaustion. Farran pieces together various nature shots with intense intimacy, simple memories that now quickly fading in Brown’s mind. A cinematic filter falls over the lens, giving his words even more depth. A self-described cinephile, Brown didn’t necessarily have a particular film he wanted to evoke, but during discussions of styling, “Jess and I both brought up ‘The Place Beyond the Pines,” Brown tells American Songwriter. “There’s a lot of iconic looks in that.”

The camera work largely nails into ravaging emotional states. As such, the visual arrives as an elegant, moving piece of work about heartbreak and recovery. It’s a larger whole tethered to smaller parts, and there’s one, in particular, which encompasses every inch of the journey into and out of the woods, so to speak. “There’s a scene where I’m running through a field. It was kind of an impromptu thing that Patrick suggested we film,” says Brown. “My skin got really scratched up from all the grass but it was worth it because it came out so beautiful.”

In many ways, “Honest” feels like a short film with the music ebbing and flowing with sweeping, evocative colors. Throughout film history, both media have gone hand-in-hand ─ either to underscore a particular mood or emotion within the story or to pull the viewer into a totally different direction. One of Brown’s favorite moments firmly anchors in the latter. “There’s this heartbreaking scene in Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘Days of Being Wild,’ where they use ‘Perfidia’ by Xavier Cugat. The strings are eerily euphoric and such a contrast to the scene but somehow it fits perfectly.”

Of Japanese-American heritage, the singer-songwriter released a string of EPs and singles until 2018. He soon crashed from a strenuous work schedule, so he stepped back from the spotlight to recharge and reassess his priorities. He re-emerged earlier this year with “Bubble” and “Islands,” signaling a triumphant comeback that was well worth the wait.

Now, as he reflects, he offers what he learned during his two-year hiatus: “Less can be more. People tend to romanticize overworking — I certainly did,” he says. “But I think having a solid routine and spending quality time yields far greater results.”

Watch the “Honest” music video below.