Acclaimed singer/songwriter Tom Odell has shared a reimagined version of his poignant song, “Streets Of Heaven,” out today via UROK. The track is accompanied by an emotional new illustrated music video watch it below. Odell, on a personal mission to support gun violence prevention, will make a donation to gun violence initiatives. For more information on gun violence prevention please visit everytown.org.
Originally released on his 2021 Sony Album, Monsters, Odell penned “Streets Of Heaven” with collaborator Courtney Marie Andrews after a mass school shooting occurred while traveling in the U.S. Tom explains, “We wrote the song in early 2019…I had been spending a lot of time in America in 2018 and was horrified by the tragedies that happened that year. First the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and then the Santa Fe High School shooting in Santa Fe, NM; two of the deadliest school shootings in history. We started writing the song by taking phrases from news articles about those school shootings, along with articles about Columbine. We wanted to write from a child’s point of view. We wanted to write innocently, without judgement or politics, just telling the story of what happened as a child would tell it, and by doing so hopefully shining a light on the enormous injustice and tragedy that takes place over and over.”
Though the song is about gun violence in schools, Odell’s goal is to help raise awareness about what it will take to end all gun violence, including gun suicides, domestic violence with firearms, police shootings, and gun homicides in communities across the U.S. Though he’s not a U.S. citizen, Odell was strongly impacted by his American fans, friends and colleagues and was compelled to make a renewed statement with “Streets Of Heaven.” As he prepares to return to the States for more live shows in October (see dates below), Odell will be deepening his relationship with gun violence prevention initiatives, selling a special, limited-edition t-shirt at all shows to promote gun violence prevention awareness and by encouraging fans to learn more about gun violence prevention by visiting everytown.org.
The new illustrated video for “Streets Of Heaven” shares emotional themes with the song, reflecting on the pain and trauma that comes with senseless gun violence. Illustrator and animator Johanna Gousset makes an impactful statement with the beautiful imagery seen in the clip. Her work focuses on bringing together words, music and movement in a poetic way, inspiring people through simple lines and colours. Her unique technique involves creating every single image by hand created in her small studio in Belgium, with the animation containing more than 2000 drawings. Gousset comments, “Working with Tom was an incredible experience. He has a wonderful creative mind and it was an honour to be able to collaborate so closely. His words and music really inspired me and I am so proud of the result.”
In a newly creative and inspired artistic chapter, Tom Odell is prepping new music to be released in the coming months.
Comments are closed.