Through his acclaimed 2020 album Appalling Human – mixed by James Greenwood (Ghost Culture, Daniel Avery, Kelly Lee Owens) and released via Moshi Moshi Records – Wesley Gonzalez cast his songwriting net over issues of the self, social anxiety, and psychotherapy. With Change Your Circumstance, Gonzalez again looks inwards, to question how he sees his role in the world. He explains: “The track was originally recorded during the last session for my 2020 album Appalling Human. As there was also a song called Change on the album, and it was initially much longer and seemed a tad unfinished, I let it remain in my iTunes to gather digital dust. Over the pandemic, I rediscovered the track and found a fondness for it that I previously didn’t have. The song was written about my friend expecting a baby. It freaked me out, to be honest. He’d asked me to be godfather and I found it scarily grown-up. The verses are more directed at myself and questioning whether I even want any traditional grown-up role in life, or asking how someone could feel mentally stable enough to ever bring a child into a world I felt such resentment for. The line Hell is the heaven that we all deserve comes from a live performance I did at Green Man festival, absolutely off my nut. I curled into a ball and shouted it for a few minutes, it came seemingly from nowhere and stuck in my guts for months. The video was made by London artist Josie Rae Turnbull, and takes inspiration from the ‘direct animation’ of artists such as Len Lye, and the chaotic chroma key of films such as DAISIES and HAUSU. Built from her personal video footage, early public information films, and assorted 1980s VHS transfers, Josie wanted to emulate the unofficial, homemade music videos you often find in karaoke bars.”
Wesley Gonzalez ‘Change Your Circumstance’ – Video
