Boombox Blitz: Kathy Zimmer remains present in fleeting ‘Time’
The cosmo-folk musician explores what time really means in her new music video.
Welcome to Boombox Blitz, an artist spotlight series showcasing overlooked singers, songwriters and musicians who are quietly taking over the world.
Time is as slippery as a serpent, as fleeting as sands in an hour glass. Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Max Tegmark once observed that “we can portray our reality as either a three-dimensional place where stuff happens over time or as a four-dimensional place where nothing happens [‘block universe’] — and if it really is the second picture, then change really is an illusion, because there’s nothing that’s changing; it’s all just there — past, present, future.” As quantifiable as the concept of time has become in the modern world, it remains shrouded in mystery. There is even a tragic poeticism to the human existence, as cosmopolitan folk musician Kathy Zimmer considers with her song simply called “Time,” a beautifully drawn examination of her own place with time itself.
“Time’s a dirty word with four letters / Time can both heal and disgrace,” she sings, the lyrics paired with the expansively cold landscape of New York City. With a visual co-directed by Ben Wolf and Holly Moore, Zimmer walks on air, weaving in and out of just another normal brisk afternoon. “Time, as a child, was forever / Now that I’m old, it’s running out,” she later updates. Even within such a melancholic melody, one cut with the gentle pitter-patter of percussion and guitar, she smiles. It’s a simple gesture of her coming to terms with the intangible and things beyond her control or understanding. “Time can be as present as a pulse in your ears / Or as distance as the echo when you shout.”
Zimmer catches the high of life, and through her introspection, she learns her music is only a small puzzle piece to a much greater scheme. Musically, “Time” swerves with a genre-blurring moment with rapper Timothy Dark gifting the song with an astute survey of love’s unwavering vibrations through space and time, destroying any sense of the temporary. The visual, shot with the natural clarity of the sun and the atmosphere’s refreshing caress, stars a slew of performers relishing in their craft — which includes Travis Aikman, Sean Dixon, Kamara Graves, Robert Randall, Victoria Richard, Cora Riely, Kari Swenson Riely, Brian Sanders, Sydney Shinnick, Kaitlin Stark, Kent Wilkinson and Four Unidentified Santas. The magic is addicting, solidified with Zimmer’s insightful guidance. “Don’t wait,” she sings in the final few moments.
“Time” anchors Zimmer’s forthcoming new project, the Sparkling Smile EP, out on digital this Friday (January 18). The singer-songwriter will celebrate the release this Saturday (January 12) at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City.
Watch below:
Follow Zimmer on her socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
