Indigo De Souza Released Video For “You Can Be Mean”

Photo by Charlie Boss

Indigo De Souza shares a video for “You Can Be Mean,” the final pre-release single from her highly anticipated new album, All of This Will End, out April 28th via Saddle Creek.

“I wrote ‘You Can Be Mean’ about a brief toxic experience I had with a manipulative and abusive LA model fuckboy. However brief, it had a life-long impact on my understanding of self,” Indigo explains. “Leading up to that experience, I had a history of putting myself in toxic situations and pining for validation from people who treated me poorly. I was stuck in some delusion that I could help abusive people through their trauma and teach them to love me in the way I deserved. I wrote this song when I finally realized that I could choose not to allow harmful behavior into my life, and that there is a deep, deep importance in protecting the body and spirit. I stopped caring about validation from assholes, stopped thinking it was my responsibility to help them, and started caring for myself in a real way. Once I made that switch in my psyche, I began to manifest truly loving, safe, kind, and communicative people into my life. Being loved in the way I deserve begins with loving myself in the way I deserve. Boundaries are so important. The body is a sacred and fragile thing and it deserves every ounce of care.”

All of This Will End, the anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed 2021 breakthrough album Any Shape You Take, marks a warmer and unmistakably audacious era for her. It’s a statement about fearlessly moving forward from the past into a gratitude-filled present, feeling it all every step of the way, and choosing to embody loving awareness. Across 11 songs, the album is a raw and radically optimistic work that grapples with mortality, the rejuvenation that community brings, and the importance of centering yourself now. These tracks come from the most resonant moments of her life: childhood memories, collecting herself in parking lots, the ecstatic trips spent wandering the Appalachian mountains and southern swamps with friends, and the times she had to stand up for herself. “All of This Will End feels more true to me than anything ever has,” she says.

Additionally, Indigo has announced a 2023 tour that includes a headline run and dates supporting Sylvan Esso and Japanese Breakfast. Tickets are on-sale now. All dates below.

WATCH THE “YOU CAN BE MEAN” VIDEO

Tour Dates:
5/13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Block Party
5/17 – Madison, WI @ The Majestic ~
5/18 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall ~
5/19 – Detroit, MI @ El Club ~
5/20 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House ~
5/22 – Boston, MA @ The Royale ~
5/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ~
5/24 – New York City, NY @ Webster Hall ~ – SOLD OUT
5/26 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom ~ – SOLD OUT
5/27 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom ~
5/29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club ~ – NEW DATE
5/30 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ~
5/31 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ~ SOLD OUT
6/2 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West ~
6/3 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ~
6/2-4 – Chattanooga, TN @ Riverbend Festival
6/10 – Bloomington, IN @ Granfalloon Festival
6/27 – London, UK @ Roundhouse ^
6/29 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
7/1 – Stockholm, SE @ Lollapalooza Stockholm
8/12-13 Seattle, WA @ Day In Day Out Festival
8/14 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at West River State Park *
8/15 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! *
8/17 – St Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
8/18 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland *
8/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory *
8/24 – Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield *
8/25 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre *
8/27 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater *
8/30 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley *
8/31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
9/1 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound *
9/2 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
9/3 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
9/6 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brookly Bowl *
9/8 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
9/9 – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Opera *
9/10 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *

~ support from Sluice
^ supporting Japanese Breakfast
* supporting Sylvan Esso

“I was finally able to trust myself fully,” says Indigo De Souza of making her masterful third album All of This Will End. When the North Carolina-based artist released her compelling and explosive second LP Any Shape You Take in 2021, it led to a successful year of sold out tours and rave reviews from outlets like Pitchfork, the New York Times, and the New Yorker.

Indigo finds recent inspiration from community and stability. “Up until recently, my life felt chaotic,” she says. “Now, so much of the chaos is behind me. I have an incredible community, I love where I live, and I’m surrounded by truly incredible people who are dedicated to deep connection and joy. My music feels like it’s coming from a centered place of reflection.”

Alongside the all-encompassing emotions captured in the album, it closes with the heartfelt and nostalgic lead single “Younger and Dumber.” One of the first songs she wrote for the album, the track began as a way of her speaking to her younger self. “While I was writing about the time when my music first started to take shape, it was also the worst time in my life and the most unstable I’d ever been,” she says. “I wrote this song paying homage to a younger self that didn’t know any better. I was flailing through life, trying to make something stick, and coming to terms with being on earth.” The song is her most intentional yet, where she sings, “You came to hurt me in all the right places / Made me somebody.” Though the track starts as a whisper, it slowly unfolds to something cathartic and explosive as she belts out, “And the love I feel is so very real it can take you anywhere.” With the clarity that comes with experience and healing, Indigo treats her past self with immense kindness. It’s her most stunning offering yet. 

Creatively reenergized from having these songs pour out of her so quickly, Indigo and her band went to Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios with producer and engineer Alex Farrar, who also worked on Any Shape You Take. “We just clicked so hard,” she says. “We had such an organic energy flow and we felt really inspired by each other.” While she lets her band loose in the arrangements, especially guitarist Dexter Webb and drummer Avery Sullivan, these songs come from her own vision. “This time, I was more true to myself and refused to allow other people’s ideas to shape what my songs sound like,” she  says. “It also feels really special because Dexter was able to fully express his freaky alien guitar voicings, and played a larger role in the production.”

All of This Will End boasts songs that run the gamut of human emotion. There’s pain and sadness, sure, but there’s a triumphant spirit of resilience throughout. In many ways, All of This Will End has become a personal motto for Indigo. “Every day I wake up with the thought that this could be the end,” she says. “You could look at it as a sad thing, or you could look at it as a really precious thing: Today I’m alive and at some point, I will not be in this body anymore. But for now, I can do so much with being alive.”

Source: thoughtswordsaction.com