First Watch: A Bittersweet Treatment For J.Views' 'Don't Pull Away'

"Don't Pull Away" is remarkably seductive. That's no wonder: Mike Milosh, who's astonishing voice was at the heart of the sensual band Rhye, contributes both that and songwriting, alongside Gotye (whose lovely smash "Somebody That You Used To Know" is nearly six years old, if you can believe it) and J.Views. It's easy to understand why this billowing, floating piece has drawn over five million listens on Spotify since we put it on our show back in 2015.

The video takes the wanting and yearning in the song to another level; director Tamar Glezerman wrote to tell us that she felt motivated to celebrate "women, women of color and LGBTQ people," which it does lovingly and tenderly through its stars, the transgender model/actress Indya Moore and the model Elliot Sailors.

"The story of the video is that of a loss, love and even lust, between a singer and her object of affection — first perceived as the viewer, but then revealed to be the woman filming her," Glezerman writes. "The original casting call for the role actually included Elliot Sailor's image as reference, so I was beyond myself when she actually joined us. I admire her work and her activism and was sure they would make a heartbreaking couple to watch dissolve.

"We had set out to make a bittersweet video about the commonest of denominators — heartbreak — with this particular one happening to be gay and interracial. No special reason required. Or at least, no more than would've been required had they been a straight white couple. However, that is not what America feels like right now, and I feel even more motivated to proudly celebrate women, women of color and LGBTQ people, through visibility, artistic collaborations and continuing to try and reflect the world as it is — full of all kinds of different people with all kinds of stories. Stories that just got a lot more urgent to listen to."

This Song "Don't Pull Away" can be found on a new deluxe edition of 401 Days they've renamed 402, including a 40-page hardcover book, due out June 16. The original 401 was part of an "interactive album" J. Views called a DNA project, which documented (and solicited input during) the entire process of creating a record from start to finish.

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