East London-based, Swedish-born artist My Life As A Moth steps further into her strange, shadowy universe with the new video for ‘Closer To Earth’, a hypnotic and unsettling track that sits somewhere between post-punk, experimental rock, art pop and industrial electronics. The release comes as she announces The Parade of the Starlet & the Broken Hearted – Extended Deluxe Edition, with the track also picking up fresh airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music from Craig Charles.
Spacious yet intensely intimate, ‘Closer To Earth’ unfolds like a dream you can’t quite wake from. Lo-fi electronics and processed vocals give way to syncopated live drums and biting guitar, while theatrical flourishes and sprawling electronic textures keep the song in constant motion. There are echoes of Björk’s fearless experimentation and the dark, immersive atmosphere of Chelsea Wolfe, but My Life As A Moth’s music ultimately occupies a world of its own – one built from fractured emotions, surreal imagery and unconventional sounds.
Speaking about the video Sofia says: “Closer to Earth is a song inspired by the souls incarnation journey into the material plane, and the experience of having one foot in each world. The music video was an effort to reflect on what is real, perceived or an illusion as we are tethered to different realities, and drew influence from the philosophy of Plato’s Cave”
It’s a fitting concept for an artist whose work constantly questions the boundary between what is real and what is imagined. Developed with Video Creative Director and set designer Alex Kim, with videography and editing by Enyon, the video extends the track’s surreal atmosphere into a world of symbolism, illusion and shifting realities.
The story behind My Life As A Moth is just as unusual. The project began during lockdown, when Sofia felt lost and disconnected. Sitting down at a dusty keyboard she had not played in a long time, she found a dead moth between the keys. Struck by how sad and strangely beautiful it looked, she wrote a song called ‘My Life As A Moth’. That moment became the starting point not just for a track, but for an entire artistic identity.
That instinct to transform difficult feelings into something vivid sits at the heart of The Parade of the Starlet & the Broken Hearted. Written during a period of deep personal change and therapy, the 12-track album draws on experiences of trauma, manipulation, coercive control and gaslighting, but is equally concerned with resilience, clarity and the parts of ourselves that refuse to disappear.
“Making music for me can feel like untangling a ball of yarn in my head and knitting something out of it,” says My Life As A Moth.
Produced by Keir Adamson and Ellie Mason of Voka Gentle, with additional engineering by Ben Christopher of Bat For Lashes, the album’s sonic landscape is as tactile as it is emotional. Together they created a distinctive sound world from unconventional textures, even crafting a custom sample pack from everyday objects including radiators, shelves, lentil bags and percussion, transforming the ordinary into something unfamiliar and alive.
With The Parade of the Starlet & the Broken Hearted – Extended Deluxe Edition expanding the project further, My Life As A Moth continues to build a world where the personal and surreal collide. ‘Closer To Earth’ is another glimpse into that world – atmospheric, emotionally raw and deliberately difficult to pin down.
Watch the new video below:
