For a New York native, it doesn’t get any more personal than 9/11. On his new video for “No History,” Brooklyn-born, singer-songwriter Kevin Devine couples the anecdotal lyrics about his experience during and after the attacks with panoramic views that showcase the past and present of Manhattan’s skyline. It arrives just days before the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The video, directed by Hayley Kosan, was conceptualized during an experience familiar to many New Yorkers. “I had a meeting up by Rockefeller Center, and decided to walk downtown instead of get right back on the train to Brooklyn,” Devine says. “I looked up and kept noticing the way the Freedom Tower just kinda hangs over everything… it reminded me of that day, how the smoke did the same thing.”
The visuals for the video are simple yet stunning. The interiors were shot in a 56th floor apartment in New York’s Financial District and capture the extraordinary sights from behind a window (as most city dwellers do). It is another stylistic decision that reinforces the intimate yet universal feelings invoked by the song’s lyrics. Despite the height, Devine notes that they were “above almost everything, but still looking up at the tower.”
The track comes off Devine’s upcoming ninth album Instigator, due out on Oct. 21 via Procrastinate! Music Traitors and Triple Crown Records. The album was produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Dinosaur Jr.) and is available for preorder here.