The official music video for my acoustic rendition of “Upon My Shoulders” is finally here.

No CGI. No AI. Just light & human movement.

The film features dancers MaryAnn Chavez and Jai Robinson, whose choreography tells the story entirely through movement — a conversation without words.

Directed with remarkable restraint by Monika Felice Smith (Olivia Rodrigo, The Rolling Stones, Doja Cat, JLo), the video was intentionally kept simple and intimate. Everything was performed live and captured in-camera. Even the kaleidoscopic effect was created using a physical prism filter placed in front of the lens.

The Evolution of a Song

"Upon My Shoulders" has had a remarkable journey. You might think this song was written on an upright piano in a quiet room, but it actually came from a wildly different music scene.

​The core idea started as a shelved demo titled "Girl on My Shoulder" during a writing session in 2016 with two of the biggest names in electronic dance music: globe-trotting festival DJs Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten.

A couple of years later, Markus revisited the demo while working on his solo album. He reached out to me — after having previously remixed Capital Cities' "Safe And Sound" — and asked if I could revise the lyrics and lend my vocals.

​The inspiration came from the experience of looking out from a festival stage and seeing people in the massive crowds lifting each other up — literally and figuratively. The result was a festival banger with an alt-rock touch, which dropped in 2018.

But I also loved the purity and emotional weight of the song in its stripped-down form, so I released an updated acoustic version just last year.

Thanks for watching.

Thanks for being.

— Sebu