Maggie McClure and Shane Henry, otherwise known as The Imaginaries, take life and all its unpredictable-ness and turn it into gorgeous, deeply moving Americana, with a timeless quality. Their latest single, ‘Walking On A Wire’, is a response to the push and pull they feel constantly, as people who take the path less travelled.
To the untrained eye they may seem like your average successful musical act; husband and wife duo The Imaginaries have opened for the likes of Etta James, BB King, Buddy Guy, and Sara Bareilles, among many others. Their music has also found its way into being featured on TV shows, and you’re likely to have heard it. Their journey however has been a long one, and their latest track was written during a very trying time for the band. Rather than throwing it all in, McClure picked up his pen and started writing, and after several nights putting flesh on the bones of the song, the pair changed the song from the spark it began to the inferno it now resembles. With simple, yet lush instrumentals, ‘Walking On A Wire’ is about “true resilience and keeping the faith and staying the course, no matter what”. Soaring harmonies are given their just deserts by musicians who’ve worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Sufjan Stevens, and Jason Isbell, and the end result is as intensely personal as it’s massively anthemic; both melancholy and deeply emotional. The track asks big questions, and although we’re not given the answers, at least we know that someone else is feeling the same way as us.
The video was shot over two days – two very long days – in Oklahoma’s Little Sahara and Glass Mountain State Parks, two locations that are dramatically different but are in real life quite close by each other. Maggie and Shane are seen walking through the sands of Little Sahara, seemingly lost. Yet suddenly we see them in breathtakingly green expanses; jumping back and forth between the two heightens the sense of confusion and torment. Directed by Reagan Elkins, who also shot the videos for their songs, ‘Revival’, and ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’, takes the song and transforms it onto film as he captures both longing and isolation, as well as the momentary joy, and then resignation, as the pair go through the cycle of searching for one another. At the end it’s nearly impossible to avoid the feeling that we’re running in circles; that life is a constant cycle. Watch the official music video for ‘Walking On A Wire’ below and let us know what you think. You can find out more about The Imaginaries from their official website.
