Dawes reflects on mental health struggles in new single “Didn’t Fix Me”

LA-based indie rock band Dawes has released the fourth single, “Didn’t Fix Me,” from their upcoming album, Good Luck With Whatever. Following “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To,” “St. Augustine at Night,” and “Still Feel Like A Kid,” “Didn’t Fix Me” centers around ongoing struggles with mental health issues.

“It feels very natural to outsource our problems…” lead singer Taylor Goldsmith says. “This song is about the efforts one makes to find some easy fix, unable to recognize that it will never work that way, that we are in the end our own responsibility.”

The soft, piano-led instrumentals provide the perfect cushion for lead singer Goldsmith’s world-weary vocals. “For the next few days or so / I was feeling pretty good / but it didn’t fix me,” Goldsmith sings, describing how short-term injections of pleasantries rarely help the root of mental health crises. The accompanying music video features an animation style reminiscent of Cubism, where a misshapen gray figure tries–and fails– to positively interact with the world surrounding him.

Watch the video for Dawes’ “Didn’t Fix Me” below. Pre-order the upcoming Good Luck With Whatever here, out October 2nd via Rounder Records.