Stella Donnelly Actually Gets Camp Right in “Die” Video

Clad in vaudeville suits and pastel-painted lids, witty Australian rocker Stella Donnelly contemplates mortality in her new music video (dir. Giraffe Studios) for the song “Die.” And, unlike 96% of Hollywood’s elite, she actually gets the camp theme right.

Sardonic and self-aware as ever, Donnelly’s “Die” offers a chipper outlook on the passing fear we’ve all experienced numerous times, most often while driving to work or enjoying an afternoon al fresco: Holy shit, I’m gonna die one day. Donnelly is the victim with a knife to the heart, the frantic nurse trying to administer a shot, the hearse driver; she’s dead, seemingly portraying a fallen runaway bride waiting to be buried alive. (Have we also mentioned that there’s a tuxedo-sporting dog? No? There’s a tuxedo-sporting dog.)

“Stella told us she wrote ‘Die’ as a song for her to run to,” the directors explain. “There’s a stark contrast between the title of the song and its actual mood and musicality. We wanted to make a video that complemented the upbeat spirit while still touching on the idea of death. Couldn’t have done it without our dog Thinly.”

Donnelly’s “Die” comes from the Perth native’s stunning 2019 debut, Beware of the Dogs. The upbeat, ‘80s dancercise cadence of “Die” stands out from the rest of the 13-song affair (“I’m just as shocked as you that it’s on there,” she said to Paste of the song in March), fusing elements of pop, folk and rock for storytelling that’s as empathetic as it is in-your-face. “You know that I love you / Wanna buy you more shit / But I can’t afford it,” Donnelly laments. It’s the kind of self-awareness that demands a visual with camp and absurdity, and deliver camp and absurdity it does. Donnelly offers more camp in the video’s three-minute, 11-second run-time than the entire Met Gala did, and she deserves an invite next year as compensation. Thinly deserves one, too.

Check out the video for “Die” below and find Donnelly’s tour dates further down.

Stella Donnelly Tour Dates:

May
21 – Mount Lawley, Australia @ The Astory Theatre
23 – West Melbourne, Australia @ Festival Hall
25 – Adelaide, Australia @ Thebarton Theatre
27 – Newton, Australia @ The Enmore Theatre
28 – Sydney, Australia @ Vivid Live
30 – Fortitude Valley, Australia @ The Tivoli

June
01 – Auckland, New Zealand @ Powerstation

July
04 – Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
05 – Vilanova I La Geltrú, Spain @ Vida Festival
28 – Tachikawa, Japan @ Fuji Rock Festival

August
09 – Rees, Germany @ Haldern Pop Festival
10 – Bristol, U.K. @ Boomtown Festival
17 – Crickhowell, U.K. @ Green Man Festival
29 – Salisbury, U.K. @ End of the Road Festival