Premiere: XIMXIA deconstructs gaslighting in horrifying video ‘Anywhere But Here’

Horror can be a vital conduit of expression, particularly when other mediums or styles don’t quite suffice. The genre has long stood as a mirror reflection of society, often combing themes of oppression, tragedy, mental anguish, and death. Filmmakers explore the darkest, most unnerving caverns of humanity, frequently resulting in a beautifully cathartic escape from real life and allowing for intense triumph. That’s most certain the case with alt-pop musician XIMXIA‘s (pronounced shem-shee-ya) perfectly disturbing new visual, “Anywhere But Here.”

With director Wayne Williams at the helm, the video mines reliably bloody imagery we’ve seen many times in horror films. Paired with XIMXIA’s plaintive, yet anthemic, lyrics, it presents one woman’s liberation from a toxic relationship. “I can’t wait to watch you walk away / As if the years can be erased,” she confides. The clip opens on XIMXIA, as a jittery housewife, nervously washing dishes, her eyes dartering to the kitchen clock. It’s a highly effective set-up and immediately tugs the viewer into the story of gaslighting.

“You used to tell me this was all a game / And all my feelings have been fake,” she sings. “None of the time with you has been a waste / I’ll take the lessons from your shame.”

A voyage to redemption came at a price, but she’s finally free. “I wrote [this song] about my intense feelings of being trapped when I needed to leave a relationship and a town. When I told Wayne about the reason for the song, he pitched an incredible idea ⏤ a horror film ⏤ and I had to say yes,” the singer-songwriter tells B-Sides & Badlands over email. “The story depicts the rage and frustration that was required for me to change so much about myself. I am killing my old identity in it.”

She proceeds to fix a mouth-watering dinner of red meat and veggies, dabbing a bit of poison into the frying pan, too. Once her sneering husband returns, well, you know what happens next. To make sure the job is done, XIMXIA picks up an axe (and maybe gives him 40 whacks!). “I can’t control myself no longer / Push me down and I get stronger,” she screams on the hook.

Ever the fashionista, her costumes become crucial to accentuate the narrative, as well. “As for the fashion, I spent a lot of time contemplating them, because they told so much of the story,” she notes, “everything from the Alexander McQueen sheer black apron draped over a beautiful lace Fleur du Mal dress to the all-vintage outfit that I splashed around angrily in.”

“Anywhere But Here” serves as the title cut to her debut EP, out everywhere now.

Watch below:

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