Brighton-based Josh McGovern has accompanied his recent single, “Weight,”  with a new music video.

Loyal to his folksy yet dark Americana style, the music video details a widower’s grief as he reminisces about his late wife and the good times they spent together.

The video opens up on an alarm clock, before an old, bearded man stares at his reflection in the hall of a farm house. The old man looks shocked and haunted by his own appearance, and in the background, a woman darts by and then out of view. Intercut with these scenes we see McGovern, strumming along on his guitar and singing soulfully.  

Over the course of the music video, the old man remains in a pair of striped pajamas, seeming in a state of pause throughout the day. Soon, the audience sees his wife in a portrait from their wedding day. The woman darting past the man’s reflection must’ve been her. The video cuts to the image of the man waking up, over and over, jolting up in bed as if escaping a nightmare.  

The viewer of this video is overcome with a sense of solitude if he or she pays any attention. The old man’s alone in all of his scenes, whether he’s taking his daily pill, eating breakfast at an otherwise empty table, or chasing after the ghost of his dead wife through the city streets.  

“Shooting the video for ‘Weight’ was a huge labor of love for everyone involved,” McGovern says of the music video. “I just wanted to create something with a story people can relate to, for me “Weight” deals with some heavy stuff and I wanted to create a video that expressed the same feelings the song gave me.”

About the song, McGovern writes, “’Weight’ is the most black and white thing I’ve ever written. It’s a stark survey of the end of love and my mental health – the bits no one wants to talk about.” Perhaps McGovern is haunted by ghosts as well, his mental. “I’m not the best at talking about that stuff, but so many people struggle with the same situations. I think it’s important to have songs that people can relate to.”

The Independent refers to McGovern as “an accomplished, intriguing new talent.” Other hits include last year’s “The Devil Below Me” and “Love Left Lost.”