“The Day I Lose My Mind” is Le Ren’s mournful meditation to a bygone love

The loss of a loved one is all-consuming, and grief is a highly personal experience. There is no singular “correct” way to mourn. Le Ren’s Lauren Spear has become perhaps a little too acquainted with grief in recent years, with the sudden loss of a former love in a tragic car accident; the journey she has been on in the wake of this pivotal moment has resulted in a study of her perspective in her forthcoming collection of work.

Set for release on 31 July, Morning & Melancholia is the debut EP by Spears. Recently preceded by lead single “If I Had Wings”, her meditation on love and death is heart-wrenching in its familiarity, with her songs - and especially her lyrics - perfectly encapsulating the maelstrom of emotions that come with a new, bluer equilibrium.

New single “The Day I Lost My Mind” is a continuation of this examination. “Through a tear, I stare at your picture,” Spears croons. “The day I lose your memory is the day I lose my mind”. Her observation surmises the purgatory of being unable - yet also not wanting - to let go, and knowingly be caught in the cyclical trap of reminiscing and wishing things could be different.

Finding a leisurely pace, it is evident that Spears has had the time to reflect. Softly strummed guitar is accompanied by decoratively keening pedal steel as the melody strikes an unnerving sadness with its country air. As described by director Zoe Robertson, the video for ‘The Day I Lose My Mind’ is “a reflection on loss, and how grief distorts time and memory.”

“[Robertson] kindly arranged a meeting with Sssally (the snake) and after many stories, drinks, hisses and haws we discovered we had a lot in common,” says Spear explains of the visuals for her new single. “It was a no brainer to cast her as the lead in this video and have Zoe capture a day in her life. Though her apartment is physically small, her heart and story are as big as can be.”