Song Of The Day: Claire Morales – “Wildest Dreams”

The New Video For The Denton Singer-Songwriter’s Previously-Released Track Breathes New Life Into One Of The Highlights Of Her Latest LP.

Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.

Claire Morales — “Wildest Dreams”
RIYL: Living your wildest dreams.
What else you should know: “Wildest Dreams” is actually a track from Denton Singer-songwriter Claire Morales’ 2018 LP, All That Wanting, but the just-released video for the song is so fantastic it’s worth conjuring up again.

The video (directed by Judd Myers), with its top-tier production quality and high-concept journey, is a lush tumble down a rabbit hole of glamor and magic. The very first shot, though grim and deserted, straight up looks like a scene from The Witch that unwittingly ended up on the cutting room floor.

Our protagonist (played by Hannah Weir), wanders alone in a cold, skeletal forest before encountering Morales’ cosmic sorceress in a literal ring of fire. (Those familiar with the album cover of All That Wanting might recognize Morales’ character’s ever-long canary gown.) Weir’s character then wakes up in a wash of cool tones, synchronized dancers and Morales with guitar in hand — a dreamscape akin to that of a more modern, fully-realized extension of Hole’s video for “Celebrity Skin.”

Morales’ signature growl and hard-to-pin-down sound serve as a perfectly-timed score for the story. The video’s peak comes right at the bittersweet end, as Weir is drowned in glittered veils, garish lights and a jubilant instrumentals.

All That Wanting already stands on its own as an album worth revisiting, but the video for “Wildest Dreams” breathes new life into an already-satiable track from it.