Words by Veronica Anaya
‘No More Birthdays’ by Brooklyn-based artist Middle Monster speaks about the dislike of birthdays, but the music video (directed by Luke Polihrom) adds a visual layer, emphasizing the celebration of art, community, and life.
Finney Abraham (also known as Middle Monster), an indie artist from Brooklyn, was set to release “No More Birthdays” in late 2024, and wanted visuals to accompany it. Production designer Luke Polihrom had been itching to direct a music video, and what better way to start than by directing your friend’s newest single?
Polihrom and Abraham came together to assemble a team and started the process. Abraham gave Polihrom the song and the first thing he did was go to a park and listen to it on a loop for three hours. Polihrom analyzed the lyrics and feelings that were evoked by listening, to find inspiration for the visuals of the story.
The story behind “No More Birthdays” stems from a simple dislike of birthdays, but beyond that, the difficult thought processes they can provoke: such as fears of the future and dwelling in the past. Abraham wrote this on his 30th–a milestone birthday only magnifying the latent conflict between past and future selves. The song is a battle through these thoughts, facing another birthday and wanting to celebrate life, but wondering how that’s possible when you are fighting contradictory feelings about needing to grow up and change, all while staying true to who you are?
Although the song is about portraying the internal battle one goes through, Polihrom does a beautiful job at representing it in the music video by using symbols and second meanings to portray fear, frustration, growth, and acceptance. As the song helps produce these feelings for the listener, the music video emphasizes the meaning behind the song. They work hand-in-hand to create a warm landscape with heavier undertones, both visually and sonically.
The opening image that kicks off the music video gets right to the issue that lies within the story of the song: time. The grandfather clock shown in the video, right before the first chord is struck, emphasizes the idea of time. Time is unstoppable, as the video illuminates the feelings of eeriness and suffocation this ceaseless motion can provoke, like something unpredictable is yet to come.
Abraham walks into this party where no one pays him any mind, and as he walks around, you realize he knows everyone there but has no interest in talking to anyone and chooses to sit in his solitude. That’s when Abraham starts singing “I’m no fun at parties but I’ll have one,” followed by “It’s okay if you have things to do.” Abraham is at an extravagant party for himself which was put together by his friends, who clearly are unaware this is not what he wants. Abraham still shows up to please his friends and isolates himself, as it comforts him in an environment he does not wish to participate in.
Abraham has found himself stuck in a cycle of having to face these anxieties about his birthday, when all he wants is to be removed from it. Abraham rejects gifts and a birthday hat. This cycle produces frustration, and it is at this point in the song where it looks as if Abraham is about to bang his head into the table. His head is submerged in water as the chorus comes in, “I don’t know how I have to change / but hold onto who I am now.” Abraham does not understand how with every birthday people are expected to grow up and change but still stay true to themselves in the process. The contradiction leads him to feel overwhelmed, represented by his head completely under water as he screams.
The line, “I don’t think I’m all that scared of dying / It could just be because I haven’t thought it through” leads the second part of the song, showcasing the negative mindset he is in. This mindset is shown in the exterior landscape Abraham wakes up in. He is lying in a body of water alone, which is representative of his solitude in his mind. Then, five women who represent angels are there to symbolize death and the idea of death entering and roaming his mind.
The angels break this wall that stands behind him, approach him, and start running in circles around him because the idea of death is all he can think about. He cannot run away from his thoughts, and this is when the chorus comes in again: “I don’t know how I have to change but hold onto who I am now.” But this time it comes in as a revelation. He understands these are thoughts he cannot fight, nor can anyone else; this is something he has to accept.
Everyone is trying to figure out who they are and how to evolve as a person, but it is not a question you need to/can answer, but rather something you live with. Abraham learns to accept this uncertainty, and it brings him a sense of freedom, once he realizes he does not need an answer. The angels break the circle around him, as he looks towards the open field and starts running with a smile on his face. The video ends with Abraham reentering the room, embracing everyone with a lot more excitement and authenticity. To tie it all together, he now has joy in his face and the video ends with him sitting alone contently.
Abraham and Polihrom end the song and video demonstrating the different headspace Abraham now sits in. Abraham tends to isolate himself, but the solitude represented at the beginning of the video and the end are vastly different. In the beginning, this solitude came from trying to avoid his negative mindset and existential thoughts that arise during birthdays, while the solitude displayed toward the end is Abraham having accepted these thoughts as normal and having found peace in that.
He has found peace by facing his challenges and he had the strength to do so because of the friends around him. The video represents the importance and an appreciation of friendship, as many came together to create it. Polihrom emphasizes how much the help and artistic skills of his friends made the video possible. Polihrom wanted a crew of friends because his goal is to make as much art as he can with them.
The concept of the video is full of beauty and meaning, from the physical appearance of the exterior and interior (inspired heavily by the film Saltburn [2023]), to the underwater headshot that was inspired by the Radiohead music video, ‘No Surprises’. Having Jake Vriezelaar, one of Abraham’s best friends, as the Director of Photography, Polihrom was able to execute these grand and ambitious ideas. The party scene alone had so much help with the set design and bringing this extravagant party to life, and Polihrom was able to include his best friend, Lauren Klas, who made the cake featured on the table. The shooting process could not have been done without this team– a team of people who are committed to one another and the art of filmmaking and music.
“No More Birthdays” by Middle Monster and music video directed by Luke Polihrom are representative of a community coming together to paint a story of the troubling thoughts that come with birthdays and a time when people can feel most alone and lost, but also the importance of accepting these thoughts, learning to live with them, and embracing growth and community.