‘Worse’ by Sarah Proctor isn’t a heartbreak song in the traditional sense. In this sombre ballad, Proctor has no choice but to be the heartbreaker. Listening to the penitence of someone who wishes they were still in love manages to make the song even more painful.
“I know that it hurts,” Proctor sings as ambient harmonies ricochet through the chorus. It’s the understated power of her voice that makes the track so easy on the ears. Sarah Proctor is one of those singers that can convey every emotion with each word sung. The despondence and guilt in lines like “you just seemed happier than me / the way you just love so easily” are even more apparent in the music video for ‘Worse’.
A relentless storm hammers down on the street as the relationship ends, morbidly lit by the cold blue streetlamps. Back inside, the women’s faces are illuminated by fiery red as Proctor admits the lyrics to the character of her (ex)-girlfriend. Sarah portrays the culpable glances perfectly as she takes a box of her things from the woman she once loved. Both the pathetic fallacy and the singer’s performance make the music video a great accompaniment to the song.
Though the single itself is fairly simple, the representation in Proctor’s music is so important. Watching the video, I’m taken back to being a teenager watching Hayley Kiyoko’s ‘Girls Like Girls’ (okay, this one doesn’t quite have the same cheerful ending) and feeling overwhelmed with how much it resonated. “I hope to be someone people can relate to through my music and lyrics,” Sarah says on expressing being a member of the LGBTQ+ community in her art. “I want to create a safe space […] where people can be totally free to be who they are and celebrate that.”
You can listen to ‘Worse’ on all streaming platforms now.