Everyone like’s pie, including Survival Guide front woman Emily “Agent M” Whitehurst, but on her latest single of the same name, and accompanying video, there are far more layers to dive into than in the typical baked good.
Lyrically, the song uses pie as a metaphor, and is sung from the point of view of a woman who has experienced trauma, trying to aid and guide another young woman down a better path, despite her resistance (“I know you hate it when I tell you what to do. It’s only because I’m worried they’ll steal the life from you”). Musically, the track is a melodic, delectable slice of indie pop that coasts smoothly along on Whitehurst’s doo-wop styled vocals. There is a retro feel throughout, which fits in perfectly with the video.
Bringing to mind the darker moments of films like Pleasantville, the video finds Whitehurst in a step ford-wife role, hosting a baking program that slowly devolves into chaos as Whitehurst goes rogue and breaks down on camera. Traditional pie ingredients are replaced with cigarette butts and razorblades, cutting to the heart of the tragedy within the song. What makes the video great is how Whitehurst sticks to the themes of the era, inserting fake retro commercials and studio audience reactions throughout the video to recreate the television of the era. It all works to highlight how things can seem so perfect on the surface, when underneath their is pain and damage being wrought behind the scenes.
Watch this excellent video above, and stream the track here.
