Posted by Dora Jar’s ‘Quiver’ music video is an alien cascade you can’t take your eyes off. Dora herself, dressed in a clear hazmat suit bound in neon thread, crawls out the ocean like a lost Ariel. Equal parts unsettling as alluring.
The video tells a story of accepting our human faults and learning to trust our intuition. The alien-like character begins timid and questioning, staring out to sea for answers, wrapped in plastic. Throughout the song we see this character grow, move and explore her terrain. Her body language, initially contorted, dances naked and freely during the chorus.
A chromatic explosion of pink, orange and lime hues wash the screen during the song’s high moments. Reducing back down to a cool blue for the introspective parts. ‘Quiver’ feels synaesthetic – each colour makes perfect sense.
Jar’s eyes remain transfixed with her audience at several poignant moments throughout as though she’s singing directly to the listener.
Is Dora Jar willing her audience to learn to trust themselves as she has learned to trust herself or is ‘Quiver’ solely personal? It could go both ways. – Alongside Jar’s gentle vocal, the ‘Quiver’ video makes for three minutes and 32 seconds of wonderment. Taking an angelic yet mortal song to an extra-terrestrial level.
‘Quiver’ opens Dora Jar’s debut EP, ‘Three Songs’. An EP exploring heartache and healing. ‘Three Songs’ feels greatly poetic: a trio of tunes about self-understanding.
‘Believe’ and ‘Look Back’, though written seven years apart, carry the same vulnerability. A young woman abandoning external pressures and doubts whilst working out who she really is in life and relationships. Tonally varied while sharing a mutual theme. Jar manages to articulate herself uniquely across ‘Three Songs’.
Opening an EP with a song of self-acceptance and ending with self-questioning may lack convention but Jar’s ongoing process of self-discovery has only just begun. A technically developed artist working on identifying and learning to love her human flaws.
‘Three Songs’ is a mere tease of what Dora Jar has to offer.
Check out ‘Quiver’ below.
Words: Amelia Lloyd
Photo Credit: Morgana Van Peebles
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.