Conner Reilly
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Everyone wants to escape sometimes. The universality of our search for the off ramp is what allows “I Don’t Know How to Get Away,” the newest song from London artist Max Mason, to feel like a personalized anthem despite its lack of lyrical specificity. Feeling trapped — in a relationship, in a dead-end job, at a Thanksgiving dinner with insufferable relatives — is something we can all relate to, and Mason offers several types of dissatisfaction to choose from.
“Too loud, too fast / Too bright, too sharp / Too up, too down / Too tired to shout,” he sings with a deadpan drawl like Dan Bejar’s (minus the nasal textures) over a swaggering Springsteen instrumental. “Get over it.”
In the song’s extremely meta music video — directed by Mason himself with Conner Reilly behind the camera — Mason stars as an abusive music video director, berating his fictional star (David McGinty) for a lack-luster performance. Mason chases McGinty down a sunny suburban street, and the two eventually face off for a bloody, bare-knuckle boxing match in a picket-fenced backyard. Watch the clip below.
“I Don’t Know How to Get Away” is Max Mason’s third single of the year, folliowing February’s “Dream Operator” and June’s “Chasing Rain.” In 2021, he released his debut LP, Relieve.