Sydney-based singer-songwriter, Ally Morgan, premiered the video clip for single “Quiet Australian” today. Morgan’s first single, the song is a frank portrayal of climate anxiety and government inaction.
“Anxiety is at an all-time high amongst young people,” Morgan said in a statement.
“But still our government doesn’t seem to have realised why. So I wrote this song in the hope that people would feel less alone amongst it all.”
Morgan completed filming the clip just days before COVID-19 lockdown regulations came into action. The video features over 25 young artists supporting Morgan in her bid to inspire broader action on climate change.
Ally Morgan wrote the song at the end of 2019, amidst the mass devastation of Australia’s bushfire crisis. For Morgan, the intersection between climate change anxiety and arts unemployment was a powerful catalyst in the songwriting process.
“I was listening to someone who I love and adore tell me they felt like there wasn’t a place for them in the world. Then that same week the government cut its funding to the arts,” she said.
“It all felt like too much and I started writing this song as a way to get all the things I constantly am anxious about out of my head and onto paper.”
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Miranda Middleton, a recent NIDA graduate, directed the clip, and empathises with Ally’s concerns. An up-and-coming creative in Sydney’s theatre industry, Middleton is one of many who has felt the impact of forced cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m passionate about the need for more action on climate change,” she says.
“I know that a music video won’t change government policy overnight, but in times of crisis, art can offer people a glimmer of hope, and hope empowers change.”
To purchase “Quiet Australian”, please click here
