Amanda Sum shares her latest single, “Undecided Minds”
Canadian artist Amanda Sum has recently unveiled her debut album New Age Attitudes.
Since the release, Amanda has debuted her single, “Undecided Minds,” with a music video to accompany the release since the release.
A sassy and humorous track dedicated to Generation Z, “Undecided Minds” playfully pokes fun at the quirks of Amanda’s fellow Gen-Zers while simultaneously admitting she’s not any different. Exploring the juxtaposition between Amanda’s coexistent feelings of belonging and estrangement from her cohort, “Undecided Minds” is both comedic and self-deprecatory, highlighting the frustrating amount of commentary and assumptions young people face while contributing to the volume at the same time. Mingling musical elements of Country and Disco to create her own unique genre, the upbeat tune blends an instantly catchy twangy guitar riff with funky electric bass and lively strings. The track also features multidirectional background vocals, which build towards the end of the song to mimic the sounds of judgmental commentary following youth who are boldly living their life. An eccentric and clever song about what it means to belong to a distinct subculture, “Undecided Minds” challenges listeners to answer the question: “Are you on the side of undecided minds?”
Amanda shares,
“Being a Gen Zer feels shameful and comedic. It’s important to laugh at that, I think. This music video will investigate the complex feelings that come with dancing through life as a member of the Gen Z club.”
The music video for “Undecided Minds” projects a fresh narrative on top of the track, embellishing its messages with brilliantly executed visual storytelling. Born from a synergistic collaboration between the singer and renowned director Miranda MacDougall (Michaela Slinger, Kenzie Cates), the futuristic yet nostalgic video departs from the understated nature of Amanda’s previous releases to excite and provoke viewers, keeping fans on the edge of their seat. Set in the distant future, the inspired video meets Amanda as an outsider to a disconnected society inhabited by two opposing groups, whose members are distinguished by their fashion choices of denim or leather. Featuring jolty, gestural dance movements choreographed by Miranda, the video depicts Amanda assimilating into both groups as the youth unite through the sport of bowling. Cut with scenes of the singer slow dancing between a representation of an older generation or an older version of herself (left open to interpretation), “Undecided Minds” expertly portrays Amanda’s conflicting emotions of feeling young yet too old for her generation.
In the spirit of weaving a sense of continuity, Amanda sports the same sweater she wore in previous videos, “Different From Before” and “Awkward Bodies,” as well as on the cover of her debut album, to represent the often invisible yet influential cultural ties which underlie her lived experiences.
Watch the video for “Undecided Minds” below and learn more about Amanda Sum via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Amanda Sum! I’m based in Vancouver and grew up between East Van and Richmond. I dip between working in theatre and music because I love them both but mostly because I have artistic commitment issues and get bored!
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
I just released my debut album, New Age Attitudes. I describe it as an attempt to neither victimize, tokenize, or even empower but, rather, to normalize the everyday experience of a young Asian woman. All the lyrics revolve around some kind of identity piece. Because of that, it was my priority to make sure the album was made by a team of women from top to bottom (from arrangement to production, mixing to mastering, photography, and graphic design) and played by a badass all-Asian girl band! There are three music videos alongside the album, and another is on its way.
When it comes to the global pandemic, how are you keeping yourself out in the public eye while not being able to perform?
Ooh! That’s an amazing question to which I don’t know if I have the answer. I consider it a gift and a curse to be able to share things online and digitally. It feels like you are letting people in on a secret, and no one will ever not know. That’s very vulnerable and scary, so the notion of keeping myself in the public eye is confusing because I often think I want to keep out of the public eye since people are already so privy to my secrets. I’ve also been very privileged to still be able to work in theatre throughout the pandemic, and I don’t take it for granted that I get to perform!
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so if you were able to work with ONE fellow Canadian artist, alive or dead, who would you choose?
Omg. Jann Arden.
What’s your goal for the remainder of 2022?
I can’t believe it is already October! It’ll be 2023 in the blink of an eye. For the rest of the year, I will try to practice slowness amidst what is set up to be quite a fast-paced last leg of the year. I think what that will end up looking like is trying to give myself weekends!