Erin Hoagg, the creative force behind the project Rare DM, has a unique ability to transmute the mundane into the ethereal. Her latest single, “Mean Girled,” takes the sting of petty social drama and elevates it into a big, sleek party anthem. “I hate worrying about people I don’t even care about,” the NYC artist explains, setting the stage for a track that finds power in detachment.
The song’s thematic core is rooted in the concept of “poisoning the well,” a metaphor Hoagg explores with both historical and personal gravity. She elaborates on the inspiration behind the lyrics:
This song was inspired by rumination against my will, driven by what I have been told is my (ever present & very inconvenient) “strong sense of justice.” The term poisoning the well (or attempting to poison the well) is a type of informal fallacy, with violent roots dating back to the black death / middle ages, and the wartime tactic of poisoning a town’s water supply to destroy an invading army’s health. Far from life or death (despite how it can feel sometimes) my own experiences with being “mean girled” as an adult have been an unwelcome lesson that people committed to misunderstanding you, will continue to do so.
The release is accompanied by a self-directed music video, which Hoagg describes as a product of “two ferry rides and a dream.” Shot by Calvin Stark shortly after a hair appointment with stylist Sean Michael Bennett, the visual captures a sense of nautical isolation that mirrors the song’s creation. “Being on a boat felt appropriate for this single — when I wrote this song I felt like a sailor lost at sea,” she notes. “Though no one can poison the well that is the east river. It’s already been done!”
Watch the official music video below:
The track serves as a preview for her upcoming project, Attention, which is scheduled for release on May 29.
