Anohni has released a new video for “Crisis”, one the highlights of this year’s Hopelessness album.

The video is stark and simple, featuring New York performer Storm Lever lipsyncing to the song as tears slowly well in her eyes. Lever had previously appeared on a projection behind Anohni during her rendition of the song at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, lipsyncing the song alongside numerous other female-identifying performers.

Anohni discussed the meaning behind the song in a press release, as Thump report. In it, she explains that the lyrics refer to the US military presence in the Middle East. “De-escalation cannot occur until we truly account for what the United States has done,” she writes. “I wanted to model what that might look like on a personal level as an American citizen. There is an unspoken sense that the atrocities our country has committed in the Middle East are too grave to really acknowledge or account for. And yet for peace to really take hold, there is no other road forward.” 

Anohni also presents the song’s lyrics alongside quotes from military officials in its YouTube description.

Watch the video for “Crisis” below, and revisit our cover story with Anohni here.