Premiere: “Crier” by musician turned mental health activist Melanie Brulée

Trigger warning: This article and the video it is premiering contain references to grief, suicide, substance abuse and mental health struggles.  Please read with care.

Today, we have the pleasure of sharing a brand new music video from an incredible artist.  Welcome to the exclusive premiere of “Crier”, by Mélanie Brulée.

Mélanie Brulée is a singer, songwriter, charismatic performer and now an outspoken mental health advocate.  A bilingual Canadian, Mélanie integrates her native tongue of French into her art as easily as she transcends musical genres. From synthesizers that remind us of hanging out in Montreal, surf-psychedelic guitars from the beaches of Australia, or the sound of a pedal-steel straight out of Nashville, Melanie takes her listeners on a musical tour around the world, with rich instrumentation and movie soundtrack level emotion. Mélanie’s music encourages listeners to get to know ourselves, in a safe and nurturing space, free of judgement and oppression.

Through her music, Mélanie works to showcase subjects that are close to home for her, and important to her audience, no matter how painful or raw.  Her third album Fires, Floods & Things We Leave Behind, exploring themes of family, loss and addiction, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. In 2020 she followed up with THE MESS, addressing an all-to-familiar struggle between anxiety and depression. “Crier” is Melanie’s most recent release, a French language single touching on themes of grief, anger, and forgiveness of the loss of a loved one from suicide.

In Mélanie’s own words:

“Crier means ‘to yell’ in French, the song is about really letting yourself feel all your feelings. Perhaps the toughest part of grieving my father’s suicide was the anger I felt from having been left behind. I really didn’t know how to compartmentalize it. So I denied it for a long time, trying to keep up with living in a world where we’re told to ‘manifest your dreams’ and ‘think positively’. I think I denied myself a really important part of mourning- allowing myself to feel it all, as a way to move through it. I’ve realized now that spending my energy pushing against negative feelings doesn’t make them go away- it all creeps in at some point or another. So I’ve turned to radical acceptance and dialectics; I’m accepting the situation as it is, even though it hurts and I would rather it be different.”

The music video for “Crier” is a poignant short film directed by Dale Sood (Arts & Rec) starring choreographer/dancer/actor Percy Anane-Dwumfour and features the on-screen debut of 11 year old dancer Jaelen Gafoor.  “Crier” is the second installment in a three-part series. Percy starred alongside Jesse Hargraves in Mélanie’s videofor Qui suis-je (2016), and the story continues with Crier as we delve deeper into the life of a father and son whose relationship is tainted by substance abuse. Through this cinematic work of art, we see the depth and love of a relationship between father and son, the danger of neglect, and the natural way of children picking up habits from their environment.

Keep up with Mélanie Brulée through her social media and website below.

https://melaniebrulee.com/

https://www.instagram.com/melaniebrulee/

*header photo by Dale Sood

Nadia Elkharadly

Nadia Elkharadly

Nadia Elkharadly is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Addicted Magazine. Her myriad of addictions include music, fashion, travel, technology, boxing and trying to make the world a better place. Nadia is also a feminist, an animal lover, and a neverending dreamer. Keep up with her on social media through @thenadiae.
Nadia Elkharadly

@TheNadiaE

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