“Pamela” — it’s got a nice ring to it.
Sydney/Eora duo Sarah Ellen and Josh Kempen have been making music together for a long, long while. However, it wasn’t until recently that they announced themselves publicly, coming together under this classic name.
A fortnight ago, the band gifted us “Chain Reaction”, their debut release after signing with EMI Australia. The single is a catchy alt-pop experience, featuring jolly guitar play, perky percussion, and decisive songwriting.
As Sarah tells me, the song’s true essence crystallised at the eleventh hour.
“It started as a completely different idea, something about Josh wearing lipstick, and only really became Chain Reaction in the last few hours. The creative process never fails to keep us on our toes.”
Produced with accredited German producer Dennis Neuer, the track tells the story of being afraid to fall fully in love and how giddy and ridiculous it can feel. A sonic symbol of the trying decision-making, love poses. Do you choose to stay in comfortable ignorance, or do you take a leap of faith towards it?
The most striking part of the track’s rollout is the music video—a self-directed, self-choreographed visual shot on the salt flats of Death Valley, California.
“During the writing session with Dennis, Sarah stumbled across an image of a car on salt flats, and we immediately knew that was where the music video had to be shot. It was pretty impulsive, but within a month, we were on a plane to LA, rented a car and roadtripped our way to Death Valley.”
The narrative opens with Josh driving through a barren landscape, Sarah riding in the backseat – a figment of his imagination. Suddenly, the pair are facing off on the salt as Sarah launches into a series of silly dance moves, attempting to draw even the slightest reaction from her love interest.
“She’s trying to lure him in and provoke him to dig deeper into his feelings, because what he may find in this exploration, he may well enjoy.”
Fulfilling the trope of the avoidant male, Josh panics and bolts, only to be stopped by a mysterious red door. Stepping through, he’s plunged into a surreal white room containing nothing but a fish tank with Sarah inside, transformed into a mermaid. “At the end of this sequence, Josh is the one submerged in the water, suggesting he may have just taken the plunge.”
And indeed he does, in comedic fashion. Back on the salt, he’s now intoxicated by his partner’s moves, breaking into his own dance with pure delight etched across his face. A vivid symbol of fully surrendering to the pull of romantic impulse.
A stack of credit must go to choreographer Gaynor Hicks, who was ready and waiting in a dance studio the moment the pair touched down at LAX. Help was needed as it had been many moons since either Josh or Sarah had last danced properly.
“The only dance studio we’d been in before this was when we stumbled into a Salsa class in Mexico City that was taught in Spanish. So, you can imagine how rudimentary our dance skills were (and still are). Working with Gaynor was one of the highlights of the trip, minus the jetlag.”
The adventurous clip would also not have been possible without producer Aislinn Walker and DOPs Jerry Hudgens, Charlie Potter and Jack Soepono. It’s encouraging to see a tight-knit crew buy into a project. The results speak for themselves. Josh and Sarah tell me they capped it all off by “sipping Modelos in nearby Las Vegas.”
Word is, Pamela has just wrapped shooting on their next video. If it’s anywhere near as gripping and ambitious as “Chain Reaction”, we’re in for a treat. Stream the full production below.