In her latest video, “T-shirt,” LA by way of Seattle artist UMI jams out in the City of Angels while simultaneously solidifying herself as a rising local talent to watch.
Clocking in at 1:46, “T-shirt” is criminally short. But, some would say good things come in small packages, and that much is true of “T-shirt.” The short flick features UMI dancing around different parts of LA, from downtown to Runyon (just a guess because most hiking spots in LA look alike), while listening to music on her cassette player. Kudos to UMI and her team for finding a working cassette player.
While the video is pretty much straightforward with just different shots of UMI dancing, there is one little detail the team squeezed in that deserves recognition. After about 46 seconds, UMI (and her tape recorder) stop. The brief pause sets up the second half of the track where she asks her potential love interest to “put my face on your t-shirt.” The great little detail she added is that after the pause, she jumps up and lands with a face drawn on her t-shirt, which stays that way for the remainder of the video. Is drawing a face on a t-shirt in a video about a wearing a face on a t-shirt groundbreaking? No. However, it is a subtle detail that they didn’t have to add, which speaks to the amount of care UMI takes when putting something out in the world.
And with the above in mind, let’s talk about the actual song, shall we? “T-shirt” sounds as bright and sunny as the city where the filming took place. UMI employs a minimalist lo-fi beat and utilizes her catchy voice to muse on love but in a lighthearted and playful sort of way. After one or two plays, there is a high likelihood you’ll catch yourself singing “wear that mother fucker around” without even knowing it.
Press play on “T-shirt” above and be sure to keep it locked right here on EARMILK for all things UMI.
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