On October 13, indie artist Claud released their single “Gold” on Saddest Factory, the record label launched by Phoebe Bridgers in partnership with Dead Oceans earlier this month.
Claud, or Claud Mintz, formally known as Toast, is an indie artist from Brooklyn who’s been making music since 2018. Their newest song is very dream pop-y with its 80s-esque bass and overall hazy vibe.
In a press release, they said “ ‘Gold’ is about contradictions; an instructor attempting to teach a class of monsters proper manners so they can assimilate; a relationship getting so tired and so old that even gold starts to rust (which isn’t scientifically possible).”
The “Gold” music video, filmed by Christina Xing, expands on that metaphor of monsters learning manners by depicting a ragtag bunch of various monsters and cryptids learning proper manners. The video holds a lot of charm from the various actors to the cheap but eye-catching costumes and set to the playful three-act structure of it all to the childish atmosphere of it all.
Claud is the first artist to sign with Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory imprint. Bridgers says she wanted to form her own label after thinking about all the trouble she went through as a young artist trying to navigate the world of record deals and predatory companies. She hopes to give more opportunities to smaller artists and to be the sort of mentor figure she wishes she had when first starting out.
When talking about her outlook on the type of music she’s interested in, Bridgers said her vision was of “ good songs, regardless of genre.” In an interview with Billboard, she phrases it as “if I like it and I listen to it for pleasure, then other people will like it and listen to it for pleasure, I don’t think I have any ethos other than, ‘Am I jealous?'”
Additionally, for fans who want to check out more about Saddest Factory, there’s a website with an incredibly unique design. It’s organized to look like a computer desktop with various folders, links to social media accounts, and occasional messages coming in from Phoebe.
