By Jennifer Zhan, AsAmNews intern
Love songs aren’t only for romantic relationships.
When rising artist mxmtoon sings, “Oh, I love you / You know it’s true / You don’t need to say it back to me because I know you do” on the first track on her debut album the masquerade, she’s referring to her grandmother.
The 19-year-old, also known by her first name Maia, said her song unspoken words is about how saying “I love you” can be difficult but really validating. She identifies as mixed-race and said the song’s music video, which dropped on December 17, was meaningful because it allowed her to “dive into” her experience growing up as a Chinese American.
“It’s rare and wonderful when you’re able to share pieces of your world,” she said. “Videos have been my favorite way of expressing my songs visually so far, and this one is no exception.”
Since she began uploading her music online at age 16, Maia has developed a reputation for vulnerable and introspective songwriting. She’s also a Tik Tok star who treats her internet fans as friends.
For the unspoken words music video, Maia teamed up with 22-year-old director and editor Jane Chow, who describes herself as drawn to people and places that exist in “the in-between.”
Chow grew up in Hong Kong and said her family’s communication felt stifled in comparison to American families on TV that always said “I love you,” and shared secrets with each other. As she got older, however, she said she learned to appreciate different ways of expressing love.
“That’s definitely a message and experience that I wanted to bring,” Chow told AsAmNews. “And I wanted to make sure [the video] really showed both Maia and myself, our cross-cultural identity and how that plays into the way we communicate with our families.”
For the video, Chow collaborated with other Asian American creatives, including producers Ian Tan and Christabelle Tan. She also credits Daniel Kwan’s advocacy and community group We Direct Music Videos for guiding her through the pitching process and figuring out how to protect herself as a director — although Chow has done other film work, unspoken words is the first music video she’s directed.
She describes the video as a fusion of the style of old-school animated Nintendo games and the color and curated detail of Wes Anderson films. She said she decided on a video-game concept to fulfill the themes of expression in the lyrics and Maia’s vision of including color and colorful rooms.
“Each room represents a challenge [Maia] has to get through,” Chow said. “And all these challenges are a way for her to both understand and appreciate her grandma’s unspoken love, but at the same time, recognize the value in expressing that verbally as well.”
In one room, for example, Maia is tasked with eating all the food her grandmother puts on her plate. Other challenges include embracing all of her grandmother’s criticisms, from “You never call,”to “Aiya! Eat less.”
In each “level” of the game, Maia avoids a red phone symbolizing the option to call her grandmother and say she loves her.
“The climax is the second chorus, the moment she finally musters up the courage to pick up the phone,” Chow said. “I was trying to figure out how we transition from these video game challenge rooms and show that we’re in a new level now, a new space where she’s come to a new form of expression.”
In this scene, Maia freely jams on an electric guitar and sings into the phone, which is now incorporated into the mic stand. Although Chow was initially unsure about using the prop, she said she realized that it fit perfectly into Maia’s vibe as an artist.
“She embraces things that seem kind of out of the ordinary,” Chow said. “It’s that kind of internet culture, where it’s the idea of expressing things through irony and embracing, loving how meme-y things feel.”
After sharing the unspoken words video in a Facebook group for Asian creatives, Chow said she was gratified to receive a positive response from Asian Americans and Asians around the world.
She added that it’s also been interesting to see the video transcend cultural distinctions and resonate with mxmtoon fans from other backgrounds.
“I’ve been humbled and pleased with how everyone is really connecting,” Chow said. “As the director and especially as someone who loves telling stories about cross-cultural identity, that’s such a great feeling because I know you don’t see these kinds of relationships and families on screen as often.”
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