Francisco Martin Releases Music Video for “Narcissist” to Portray Manic Moments
The music video for “Narcissist” welcomes you into the brain of Francisco Martin. The recently released visualizer came in conjunction with the release of Francisco’s new EP, Manic, and it represents Francisco’s own experiences with manic eisodes. He shares further,
“Narcissist” is based on a character that I’m all too familiar with. It shares thoughts and feelings I have during some of my “manic” moments. When you’re in a manic episode, you feel like the world is all about you. We crave the idea of being liked by everyone. It’s great that our generation is living in the age of the Internet, but it distorts our reality of who we are and how people perceive us. It’s a song about today’s social climate and how it affects normal everyday people. Me singing about being a narcissist isn’t literal, it’s a metaphorical symbol of our generation and how we can turn to narcissistic tendencies when we’re not taken care of and don’t feel like we get the love we deserve, because at the end of the day, ‘who doesn’t want to be loved?’
Francisco was born and raised in the Bay Area in a musically fertile household. His father was a fan of rock bands, his mother favored singer-songwriters, and his brother loved soul music. At the age of 9, Francisco started singing and playing drums before going on to master guitar, piano, and several additional instruments. In high school, Francisco became enamored with self-producing renditions of his favorite songs and posted those on SoundCloud where he became a buzzed-about local artist. In 2020, he shot to fame in American Idol season 18, where he placed Top 5. From there, he quickly released a few singles before embarking on a fall coast-to-coast tour.
Francisco has become known for his heart-on-sleeve soulful pop, garnering favorable comparisons to songwriters such as James Bay, John Mayer, Maggie Rogers, and Ed Sheeran. He’s boldly unafraid to share all parts of himself with his audience, breaking down the preconceptions someone might have of him. These past few years, he has been working feverishly at all hours of the night to develop the soundscapes of Manic, bursting with dynamic musicality – stately balladry, cathartic, grungy aggression, catchy EDM, and moments of soulful serenity. Francisco bravely reflects on mental health, relationships, angst, and human disconnect in the age of connection.
“Narcissist” isn’t truly about a textbook narcissist, but instead somebody who displays narcissistic tendencies during moments of extreme elation. Listeners can hear the acknowledgement of these tendencies in the lyrics that are laid above pop rock instrumentals. The music video starts with an opening scene between Francisco and his therapist. In it, the two are getting in a heated argument because, as one might conjecture, Francisco simply finds himself wanting to be loved – and there’s no harm in that, right? Shaky clips are scattered throughout the video, mirroring the intense states of high that come with manic episodes. While mental health is a more common topic of conversation these days, mental illnesses remain a touchy subject as they’re not glamorous. Massive props to Francisco for making manic depression an easily accessible point of conversation with “Narcissist.”
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