It's New Music Friday, and here at Refinery29, we have a treat for you. Musician and activist MILCK has just released her new music video for "Quiet," which is anything but quiet. It's your newest anthem for the cultural #MeToo moment we're experiencing — one in which brave voices are speaking about sexual harassment, assault, rape, and abuse, and naming names. The video release comes on the heels of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, which have shattered a culture of silence. Oprah Winfrey calls it a "watershed moment," and we agree. It's also been a long time coming.
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"Quiet" was the unofficial anthem of the Women's March earlier this year. MILCK (aka Connie Lim) re-recorded the song with sexual assault survivors singing background vocals. The new version is a grand, sweeping piano-based song, with verses that echo the words women hear on a daily basis: "Shut up and smile/Don't spread your legs" before diving into a majestic chorus in which she triumphantly declares “I can't keep quiet, no/I can’t keep quiet, no/I can't keep quiet for anyone/not anymore."
The video itself will make it rain all over your face — it's a series of vignettes telling stories that are familiar to all of us. A trans girl who longs for her family to accept her truth. A woman who deals with an abusive relationship. And finally everything comes together with MILCK's thundering voice, backed by an orchestral band of women-identifying musicians.
But MILCK's own words about her music are equally inspiring. In a letter to her fans, she writes, "in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandals sparking a massive movement of women and survivors speaking out against sexual assault, I find myself in awe and moved to my core. I have teamed up with Atlantic Records to create a hopeful, new version that incorporates survivors singing with me. I’ve seen this song help survivors speak out after the Women’s March, and I believe that the new version has the power to encourage and empower all those thinking of coming forward at this time. It’s my gesture of support and encouragement to all the survivors rising. It’s my musical #METOO.”
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Watch the video for "Quiet" below, and make sure you have plenty of room to dance and cry. Her EP This Is Not The End will be released on January 19, 2018.