Watch Debby Friday’s video for “What a Man”

Last week, Debby Friday released her outstanding Sub Pop debut album GOOD LUCK, which is currently our Album of the Week. And today, she’s shared another new video from the LP, for “What a Man.” Watch it below.

Friday said in a press release that the video is loosely based on Jon Berger’s essay “Ways of Seeing,” which introduced the concept of the male gaze, as well as paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi.

Friday said in part, “Both the essay and the paintings served as frameworks for the video. The same way that Gentileschi painted herself into images of other women is the same way I feel that every woman can see ourselves in much of Gentileschi’s story and her work. To be a woman and an artist in this world is to be, in a way, a shapeshifter. You take on the shape of whatever and whoever is looking at you – whether that be a camera, a phone, a lover, a thief, a killer. Always and all at once, you are a spectacle, a flower, a treasure, a ditch, a bitch, a miracle.
 
“When I look at Artemisia’s paintings, I feel myself transported and transformed into the emotional field of Judith, of Jael, of Susanna. Her hand is my hand, her sword is my sword, her pain is my pain. I have always identified with women who were wild and brazen – survivors, people who exist and persist despite. I have always looked up to women who were willing to be ‘bad’ in the name of living thoroughly.”

Debby Friday tour dates:

Wed. Apr. 12 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Thu. Apr. 13 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
Fri. Apr. 14 –  Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
Sat. Apr. 15 – Vancouver, BC – Cobalt
Wed. Apr. 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
Thu. Apr. 20 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
Tue. May  02 – Bristol, UK –  Crofters Rights 
Wed. May 03 – London, UK – Corsica Studios w/ Grove
Fri. May 05 – Krems, AT – Donau Festival 
Sat. May 06 Brussels, BE – Botanique (La Rotonde)
Tue. May 09 – Paris, FR – La Hasard Ludique
Wed. May 10 – Lisbon, PT – ZDB
Thu. May 11 – Leeds, UK – Headrow House
Fri. May 12 – Manchester, UK – The White Hotel
Thu. Jun. 08 – Melbourne, AU – Rising (Max Watts) w/ Desire Marea
Mon. Jun. 12 – Sydney, AU – Vivid Wavyland Metro Theatre
Sat. Jul. 08 – Québec City, QC Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ)
Sun. Sep. 03 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot