Last November gave us a light at the end of 2020's dark and lonesome tunnel, as Rare DM released her new track ‘Send Nudes’, with a cinematic accompaniment shot in the streets of New York. Budding from the name of Errmine, Erin Hoagg’s Rare DM has blossomed into a darkly digital and effervescent project with hard hitting synth, hypnotising listeners into fantasy with foundational roots of realism. Speaking with Erin, learning of the name Rare DM’s origins captured the very essence of Send Nudes’ meaning…
What does rarity mean? The paradigms discussed with Erin were infinite, ambiguity at it’s finest! The things we love are rare, be it material or otherwise. Erin’s favourite things in life are encapsulated by rarity; unique objects & emotions that have their own respective time and place. A key rarity we tapped into is that of being in love.
For our generation especially this is paramount. Be it Ducky from Pretty in Pink or Tom Hansen in 500 Days of Summer we are all looking for the light at the end of the tunnel known as True Romance (had to drop in our favourite movie didn’t we?). But does modern reality, and our out-of-template freedom centric lives contradict this?
Does modern technology create a code filled hinterland before we reach the end goal?
"Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email… There are 10 different ways you can contact me and you’re not doing any of them?”
Through the beautiful antithesis of direct quotation, juxtaposed to fantastical dreamscape language that we relish internally, ‘Send Nudes’ builds in us a situation we have all been engulfed in at one time or another.
‘Will they, won't they?’ ‘Do I text now or in an hour?’ ‘Have they seen my latest story?’ The former takes ahold in the compelling statement:
‘Thanks for the night, is the only text I get’.
Here we see the questioning of modern day communication, and how we perceive this. On the face of it we see a text coming in shortly after the escapade, yet the loops and bounds our minds go over into the analysis of a text, have the capacity to destroy the blossoming possibility of the situation all together.
Maybe it is possible that iris dilation and the tone of someone's voice were incredibly taken advantage of. These loops, bounds and endless scenarios stem from the same origin as our dreamscapes however.
The true love factor in a perfect picture burrows from the same hole, taking us to the yearning of that end goal Erin and the rest of us long for.
The following lyrics struck a chord with me, as they seemed to show both sides perfectly in symmetry:
"What did she have that I don’t have
What made you want her as your other half
While “Thanks for the night” is the only text I get
And I’m right back there and I’m left on read"
To tie off a crisp videographic experience complementing 'Send Nudes', Rare DM's outreach to her fellow New Yorkers has patterned her musical efforts in modernistic style. If you happen to be strolling the streets, an ominous and curiosity striking QR code, surrounded in Japanese script may pass you by.
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The words 'Send Nudes' upon the sticker sparks the reader's in so many ways.
You might wonder, does this message want to send me nudes? Does it want me to send nudes even?! Some of us have had the privilege across the Big Apple, in places such as Queens, Brooklyn and Newark!
Behind the digital gateway is reflective of that social norm, yet in the form of an electrifying visual experience, exposing the senses rightly towards Rare DM.
Rare DM - send nudes
Erin encapsulated this perfectly with the multitude of ways we can speak, yet none being used in the given moment. In this world, the options and abilities are so instant that we seem lackadaisical to reach out. What an irony intimacy now has.
The acronym DM can also splinter into so many different meanings for us at this current time, let alone phrases that include said acronym. Are you sliding in those DM’s? Do you reside with Death Metal as your genre of choice? Erin‘s anecdote of her friend associating DM with ‘Dance Music” epitomises how many options there are for association. Interestingly, if you type ‘Rare DM’ into google, ‘Rare Depeche Mode’ is your first source!
Our social media outlets that have previously been mentioned in quotation, are directly affiliated to these lyrics in my mind from an archival perspective. Not only do we toss and turn for the next message, but in the mean time, we have a cornucopia of our desired others history at our fingertips. Slideshows of former partners glisten across our screens, and we wonder how we're not given the same level playing field as those before. A relationship that could have easily been destructive as well as beautiful. We're staggered as to what the reason is for us not being given the same chance. Again another obstacle that fluctuates us from A to B towards the loving end goal.
The video of this masterpiece shows a mission through the desolate NYC. And in the blink of an eye within mid-March, the city that never sleeps was called to a halt.
“I remember biking down East Houston around 10pm on a Sunday - which is usually a super busy road - and I hadn't passed by a car for five minutes..
...riding through Soho, looping around different streets. It was just so empty! Nobody!”
Against the grain, the video is fast paced, racing us across the Metropolis on two wheels. The bike whisks Erin through the high streets like an urban Pegasus. The refractions of city lights alongside the thematic aspects of ‘Send Nudes’ thrust us into memories of dystopian treasures. To me it conjures up thoughts of Tron-esque light cycles. Meanwhile night time avenues bring to mind Dekkard in the streets of LA, retiring replicants left and right in typical Blade Runner fashion. The ideas behind this video were pragmatically empowering to say the least.
What a better way to explore and create a kick-ass music video than riding around the city you love? The inspiration of said video hits an interesting parallel with the lyrics' respective origins. As so one more love interest dissipates; creating a searching for why this is the common case, so too did the swathe of Corona Virus inspire a desire to tackle life's stagnation head on. For Erin, this was the perfect chance to exercise & breathe fresh air, progress her craft and document the city that never sleeps in an unprecedented atmosphere. Tieing these two parallels together was perfectly put by Erin, in stating that the song was a mission in that we are always learning, & progressing forward. We may have hiccups, but this won't prevent us from reaching the end goal.
The continuation of filming opened up so many new possibilities for capturing the perfect shot. One simple but beautiful trick spoken of was cycling up close to the taillight of a preceding car, in an effort to cloak one’s self in a silhouette of red lighting! The mission we feel in the lyrics is physically embodied in Rare DM’s routes taken. From monument to monument; landmark to landmark; borough to borough… the poetic thought of the end goal could be seen in the form of Prospect Park, Washington Square Park, Times Square, you name it!
Interview by Isaac Ransome
Photos and album art by Lissyelle Laricchia @lissyellelaricchia
Illustration by Adi Juhasz @Adijuhasz
Force Field PR / Daniel Gill