Cameron Mesirow, the artist known as Glasser, is wearing a rippling pink Issey Miyake dress as she explains over Zoom from her Manhattan apartment how she ended up in Florida on the back of a Jet Ski a couple of weeks ago. After being approached by Saturday Night Live director Amber Schaefer, a big fan, Mesirow conceived of a music video for the song “Easy” that centered on water ballet. To skew the look softer, Schaefer and Mesirow brought in Claire Sullivan, formerly of the brand Vaquera, to style the video. While Mesirow does wear her helmet, she also wears a silver bikini. The resulting video—which includes Sports Center-worthy tricks—is ethereal, weird, funny, and mesmerizing. “Easy” is a magisterial song, produced by Mesirow, with her dovelike voice swirling above the beat, doing aerial tricks of its own. The song is a part of her third album, Crux, which will be released October 6, and her first project in a decade. Below, Mesirow speaks with Vogue about making the record, the video shoot, and her love of fashion.
Vogue: What is “Easy” about?
Cameron Mesirow: “Easy” was written very quickly, just after I bought a ticket to go to San Francisco to visit the grave of a friend who died. He was my first love, and he died accidentally due to an overdose. It had a really profound effect on my life and my writing. I wrote a lot of songs about it, and this is one of them. But this song, I think, captures the kind of euphoria of grieving that was taking place. I think that it sounds really strange to say, but I reveled in my feelings quite a lot. Some may call it wallowing, but I wanted to feel every inch of the feelings at all times. And so it included lots of really beautiful feelings too, aside from just devastation about that loss.
One of the ways I felt that euphoric, beautiful feeling was in a dream that I had of being with him again and having so much fun. “Easy” emerged from there—this understanding that love and the pain of loss and the wonderment of being alive is just a thread that’s in you at all times. I was thinking of it as a river, and the outlets are events that happen in your life, what you attach your feelings to.
So how did the video end up with you on a Jet Ski?
The video was conceived by me and Amber Schaefer, who brought the Jet Ski thing to life. I was like, “I’m trying to do an extreme-sports video.” And she was like, “Well, what if we can get you on a Jet Ski?” The reason why that was on my mind was because in the song there are these bombastic synth sounds that are like what I consider to be a trance-music take on Baroque. So, like, I was trying to go for bombast to reflect the feeling.
But also I got really into watching these GoPro videos on YouTube of people doing extreme sports, and the thing that I really attached to in those videos was the surrender of the body in midair. That felt exactly like a reflection of the euphoric feeling I was trying to express. If you give in, it’s that revelation, and if you freeze up, you’re fucked because you’re midair floating in the middle of a flip. The body is so knowing of grief and of its possibilities and limitations.
What made you want to wear a silver bikini while on the Jet Ski?
[The wardrobe] was a choice made by the wonderful Claire Sullivan and me. Claire brought out all these really amazing pieces that were old-school showgirl looks, almost like the Rockettes. And I was really into that vibe, bringing a very girly aspect to the extreme-sports culture. She understands the sort of grandiosity that I’m trying to achieve with mundane objects. She made a huge gown out of a down comforter, and it was just incredible-looking.
I feel like one of the looks you wear on the Jet Ski is pretty bridal. Am I reading this wrong?
It’s hard to wear white and have people not think bride, but admittedly there was a veil involved. We weren’t necessarily thinking about bridal. But listen, I don’t care about marriage at all. That look is for everyone.
Crux is your first album in 10 years. But your last project was an EP called Sex Tape, which was way more horny than romantic. Is Crux a horny record?
As far as I’m concerned, all my records are horny records. But it’s funny you bring that up, because I want to say what I do share in common with a bride is the desire to be objectified and on display. I really enjoy objectifying other people and I enjoy objectifying myself. Marriage is a huge performance that a lot of people long for with a lack of other types of stages to get on. For me, the veil and the wearing white—the idea was to be romantic about the Jet Ski.
This is the second Glasser video in a row to feature water. Should I be looking for a connection?
Water is always on the mood board. It’s that tangible/intangible substance. We can swim in it, but we can’t hold it. It’s a huge inspiration for the sound of everything, the look of things too. I think water is a perfect metaphor for uncertainty being the only thing that’s certain in this life. That’s often what I’m writing about.
It’s Fashion Week now, and I’m talking to you right after you attended the Rachel Comey show. How was it?
It was great. Molly Ringwald was there, which got me really excited. And it was beautiful. All of the models had super-frizzy or long, flowing hair. It looked very late-’90s Prada, actually, which is hot and always on the mood board too.
Water and late-’90s Prada.
Exactly. And you can put a pin in that.