Laura Wolf 's
"Paper and Plastic"
Songwriter Laura Wolf and Filmmaker Dan Criblez Collaborate on
‘Paper and Plastic’
Written by Alejandro Veciana
‘Paper and Plastic’ was Laura Wolf’s second release from her new EP “Shelf Life”. In this song, Wolf takes us into an intimate realm, where she works through ideas of death and memory. “‘Paper and Plastic’ is about sorting through the myth and memory of family folklore.”, she explains, “It was inspired by conversations with my late grandmother, Mimi”. Wolf, a sophisticated and skillful songwriter, attempts to reconcile not only with her grandmother’s passing but with memory as well.
In the opening lines of the song, Wolf explores that familiar and dreadful tug and pull between letting go and holding on after the death of a loved one: ‘Holes in your letters/I’m teething the tether that ties us together/Like moths in your sweater’. With her delicate, almost whispery vocals, she lends the lyrics a breathy quality that adds to the song’s intimacy. Wolf threads an intricate musical fabric made of electronic sounds, beats, samples and strings that surprisingly never end up feeling too dense or contrived. Instead, much like her vocals, the production itself feels light as air.
The most powerful moment happens midway through the song. Right in between the first and second verse, there’s an instrumental break with an otherworldly aura. The sudden sound of a cello, with its sharp bow strokes, cuts through and skips through this placid moment like a stone skipping on a lake’s smooth and still surface. The cello plays an important role here, it pulls the songs more celestial, gravity-free elements down to earth. Laura Wolf, a classically trained cellist, weaves together classical embellishments and glitchy electronic beats with remarkable beauty and finesse, striking a balance between symphonic order and frenzied, eclectic textures. Her skillful blend of electronic and classical instrumentation creates a richly textured soundscape that defines her unique style.
The music video for ‘Paper and Plastic’ also dwells in delicately balancing these contrasts. By blending super 8 footage with animation, visual artist and filmmaker Dan Criblez creates a dreamlike atmosphere that mirrors the song’s emotional complexity. The simple yet eccentric animation adds a touch of playfulness to the vintage footage, creating a beautiful juxtaposition that adds more color to the song’s melancholy. The animation at times subtly echoes the imperfections found in old analog film, such as dust, hair, and scratches, bringing an added layer of texture to the visuals. Criblez draws tiny circles which transform into worm-like figures (a recurring theme in his work). He is using Mimi’s old super 8 footage to stitch together what Wolf describes as “an expansive time capsule”.
“It’s easy to get in the habit of making things very hard for yourself with the tedious nature of animation. I had a short deadline and I was forced to simplify concepts and visual techniques.” recalls Criblez. Beyond a mere accompaniment to the song, the music video for ‘Paper and Plastic’ stands as a touching and independent work in its own right, and is a testament to the power of collaboration between musicians and visual artists.
Laura Wolf‘s “Shelf Life” is out now on all platforms on Whatever’s Clever Records. Ambient Pasta Productions had the pleasure of creating the “Paper and Plastic” music video as well as designing the “Shelf Life” cassette tape with Artist, Dan Criblez.
You can purchase the tape through Laura Wolf’s Bandcamp here.
“Shelf Life” an EP by Laura Wolf
