I published a short video where I talk about how I wrote the song and what the message of the lyrics is. But there’s still few more things that’s I wanted to say about the song and the accompanying video.
I feel that you guys really love the song, and some people love the video too, but a few people feel the video doesn’t really match the vibe of the song. I get that but also the video and its vibe do stem from the message of the song and the stuff I’ve been going through while making this song and the video.
Future Hackers was the first new song I wrote after Villainess towards the end of 2019.
Musically I wanted it to be a computer-game-y, dance-y song with the traditional electro-industrial sound. I already felt that it had this air of futuristic landscapes like in computer games.
When I first started working on the lyrics I was thinking about the climate change and where
we are going with all this stuff. I am very anxious about where we are heading and regularly flit between pessimism because not much is being done to change, and optimism that we can turn things around.
Then the pandemic hit in early 2020 and the lyrics immediately also fit the situation.
Although at first I wrote the song about climate change, the words fit perfectly the time of coronavirus. “The fear the despair, all the panic in the air, now it’s getting all around us, infecting us” – yeah, that bit was already there.
In my darkest moments I am extremely pessimistic and depressed about the future. The constant news about melting ice caps, ravaging fires and of course the pandemic, doesn’t spell good things going forward. The strings and choirs at the end of the song are definitely a doomsday moment. But how can you live if you don’t think there is a future ahead of us?
Am I going all Sarah Connor here?
Which is what made me realise that it’s impossible to live without hope. We must believe that there is a way forward, that this shit can get fixed and that our children can have a future.
Which takes me to the video.
I guess a lot of industrial music is quite dystopian, and not exactly the scene to spread a
message of hope. A lot of the visuals play with images of ruins, pain and destruction. But wallowing in despair, misanthropy and self-loathing was never my style. My message is still the same as it was on “My Law”, that I am in charge of my own life, and I will choose to be optimistic and never give up.
So, the video is not about being in a dark place, or a terminator-style future, but about
moving forward, feeling optimistic and choosing to enjoy life, despite all the shit that’s happening all around us all the bloody time.
Keep rocking,
Jessi.