krissanthemum

The backstory of the album comes from Lassiter's prolonged health struggles—the songs "emerged during years of unmanaged, debilitating menstrual illness" that culminated in a hysterectomy. You might expect such a fraught experience to inspire music on the darker side, but Lassiter's specialty is actually making beautiful and joyful music, music that emanates a positivity so powerful that it simply won't let despair take over. "It's Behind Me, Now It's Gone" is a sweet, retro, radiant psych-rock song that celebrates the ability to move forward after so much time spent in pain—the multilayered harmonies in the chorus are so bright, listening to them kind of feels like staring at the sun, only instead of burning your retinas out, you start hallucinating rainbow dolphins and hearts, Lisa Frank-style.

I got to ask Lassiter and Dong some questions about the making of the video for "It's Behind Me, Now It's Gone," which features a giant version of a classic board game, a glamorous beach freakout, and lots of cinematic running (best kind of running). Let's get into it...