Saving Vice - Broken Window Video Review

Review by Brittany Swigert

Today I had the absolute privilege of getting a first look at the new music video for Saving Vice’s song “Broken Window”. For those who don’t know, Saving Vice is one of my favorite bands. Their debut album Hello There has been playing off and on since it dropped. It has inspired a painting of mine, provoked conversations, and given me immeasurable joy as I watch YouTube reactors listen to it for the first time with the same awe and energy I had when I first heard it. When the video for “Broken Window” came down the pipe, it sat just long enough for me to register what I was looking at before I scooped in and claimed the assignment. Any chance to talk about these five amazing guys, am I right?

So, lets get right in to it. “Broken Window” is a phenomenal song on its own. While it certainly did not need a video accompaniment it certainly drove the point of the track home. With Saving Vice utilizing clips from newscasts, and the like, they have fully captured the essence of the song. In an interview, Chase discussed the Overton Window. It describes what is deemed acceptable socially and it should be noted that that window has shifted to a place that what we as a whole are willing to accept as decent enough is grossly wide, allowing for more and more heinous occurrences, activities, and behaviors to be seen as commonplace and not in need of correction.

The lyrics point to this very conclusion with lines like “the window has shifted” and “there is no course correction”. With such a bleak outlook it’s hard to imagine this song as anything but depressing, but if you dig deeper its not just about the desperate times we live in. They point out that there is a sliver of hope in finding our way back. If more people looked to decency over image, there is a chance we could make it through. The video itself features a heavy grain effect and transitions that are reminiscent of what you would expect to experience watching television on a tube tv with a somewhat faulty antenna. It gives everything a great aesthetic and brings me back to when I was younger, watching tv with my parents. I have lived through some major events and seen them described by newscasters in programs I never fully understood in my youth. This video brought that same attention and fear that I experienced back then. It was a remarkable choice and I have to applaud them for its application here given the subject matter of the track.

The remainder of the video shows the band dressed in black and is exceptionally dark. They use muted color in a minimized capacity, and it adds a lot of intensity to what you can see, highlighting expressions and movement. They all look quite angry and exhausted as the song rages on. It is clear there is a lot of emotion and frustration at the state of things being played out before us in the video. I have loved all of their videos up to this point, but it is not an exaggeration to say that this one easily tops them all. There is so much to appreciate here and its message, while direct, isn’t as heavy handed as it could have been. It encompasses a wide scope of atrocities rather than focusing on an individual issue and that adds a lot of impact to it. I have spent a lot of time talking about the video but without a powerful song, it wouldn’t be able to carry the weight of its intentions.

All five of these guys deliver one hell of a track to drive their point home. With Tyler and Chase in the forefront delivering ridiculous vocals, Kenjamin, Sammy and Robbie come in to provide the instrumentals that highlight and punctuate every word. They introduce the song with a beautiful melody strummed out by Robbie as Tyler sings a dreamy intro and it picks up from there with Sammy and Kenjamin coming in with heavier bass progressions and drum patterns to accompany the ridiculously gnarly screams as Chase joins the fray. It is a fairly heavy song with melodic breaks and tempered instrumentals to match the tone of each segment. Overall its remarkably well produced and a solid track on its own.

Saving Vice is set to drop the video for “Broken Window” on April 14th and is a must see. I have already given my favorite YouTube reactors the request with a promise of sending the video to them the moment it drops. I can’t wait to see how everyone else reacts to this video! I fell in love with it and watched over and over again while writing this review. For those of you who want to see it early, go to their website or Facebook to check out the details for SVIP. For those patient few, be sure to tune in on the 14th for what I would be happy to call the best video of the year so far.