The beautiful but isolated landscapes of Western Montana are the perfect backdrop for Riddy Arman’s latest video, directed by respected film-maker Keenan O’Reilly. Arman herself stars as a lonely ranch-hand and, thanks to her real-life work and experiences, she brings authenticity to the role and the lyrical narrative. Powerful images like Arman walking fully-clothed into the lake complement the emotional starkness of her words: “I pass the bottle around // To both of my hands // There’s a stillness in the air that makes me wanna drown // This kitchen stove warms the same dinner twice.”
The visual, lyrics and music combine to create an atmospheric whole; ‘Both of My Hands’ is a deeply personal song, all the more compelling for its raw honesty and the perspective we’re given by an artist who is writing from experience. Arman explains: “It was written during a really heavy time in my life. I was working on the ranch what felt like around the clock and then coming home after dark to an empty house. I suppose I took to drinking because it was the easiest way to comfort my body and mind after those long days, and looking back it was the loneliest way I could have done so. Making the music video was a very intense, yet grounding experience. Transporting my headspace back to the time and place I wrote this song was a bit excruciating but allowed for me to see how much has changed over the course of one year.”
‘Both of My Hands’ is taken from Arman’s recently-released and well-received self-titled debut album, featuring songs that explore seclusion, isolation, emotional pain and bereavement. Such weighty topics can inspire beautiful music as well as proving cathartic. Arman says of the new record: “Recording these songs brought me back to the times that inspired them but instead of reliving the pain, the studio magic empowered me to overcome it.” That’s the power of music. Check it out.
