Just as the summer seems to be drawing to a close, Karen Jonas lifts us with a video that sees her walking amongst beautiful sunflowers as the sun slowly sets. The dreamy, atmospheric video accompanies a delicate ballad, full of love, loss and longing. There’s real heartache in lines like: “I haven’t asked for much // A little of your time, a little of your love // And I don’t see why this won’t work.” She’s pleading to be given a chance in a relationship destined to fail as she’s pushed further and further away. This pain is hidden behind Jonas’s sweet, persuasive vocal – which sounds like she’s talking directly to the listener – and a sumptuous summery melody that’s so easy to listen to. It’s at once heartbreaking and uplifting, which is quite a feat.
Jonas told AUK how the song and video were put together: “I wrote ‘Summer’s Hard for Love’ years ago, but it never quite made it onto a record. It stuck around somewhere in the back of my brain and resurfaced when I was writing my recently-released collection of poems, ‘Gumballs’. I spent a lot of time contemplating, editing, and rewriting the song so that it retained its original concept and emotional delivery, but also fit in with my current songwriting standards. It came together beautifully in the studio, I love how the band lifts the song. Videographer Will Webb and I wanted to make a dreamy sunset video to accompany ‘Summer’s Hard for Love’, so we met at Snead’s Farm just outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia and borrowed their gorgeous sunflower fields. Will actually was envisioning a sunRISE shoot, which I’m sure would have been lovely, but early mornings are not my thing and I probably would have slept through it! So we settled on a hot August summer sunset instead, and it had the perfect amount of steamy dreamy magic.”
The single is taken from Jonas’s recent EP ‘Summer Songs’, an engaging soundtrack to the season. Check it out alongside ‘Gumballs’, the personal collection of poetry that Jonas released as a companion to the music. Enjoy.
