lesibu grand im not sorry premiere
[Photo via Spotify]

Lesibu Grand release new stop-motion video for "I'm Not Sorry"—watch

Lesibu Grand are done apologizing to others in their latest track “I’m Not Sorry,” exclusively premiering with Alternative Press.

“I’m Not Sorry” takes inspiration from early ’80s bands such as the Motels and Berlin. The band also explore a more sincere, self-reflective side of their work in comparison to some of their recent songs that use dark humor and anger to comment on social issues.

Read more: Lauren Servideo shares the inspiration behind her characters and humor

With new-wave rock guitar riffs and a catchy beat, “I’m Not Sorry” delves into the emotions surrounding being in an abusive situation or relationship that you aren’t able to control.

“This song expresses what it’s like to be in an emotionally abusive relationship—knowing it’s toxic, but you’re in it so deep that you can’t move on,” lead singer Tyler-Simone Molton says. “And when things are good, you forget about the bad times. It is a very frightening place to be.”  

Bassist John Renaud adds that in addition to ’80s bands led by women, the guitars and keyboards were also inspired by the Cars.

Read more: Nolie takes an experimental approach to his music and artistry

Along with the release of “I’m Not Sorry,” Lesibu Grand have shared an artistic stop-motion visual for the track. They joined forces with Mattiel Brown, who fronts indie-rock band Mattiel for the video, enlisting Brown’s help to create the artistic aesthetics.

“The video for ‘I’m Not Sorry’ was animated with cut paper and found objects,” Brown says. “I’ve been a Terry Gilliam fan for a very long time, and I’ve learned a lot from some of his old teaching videos on YouTube. So I always hop on the chance to use stop-motion. It’s a very time-consuming process, but it’s also a lot of fun and very rewarding in the end.”

You can check out “I’m Not Sorry” below as well as exclusively learn about Lesibu Grand’s process of creating the track.

What’s the message you hope to convey with “I’m Not Sorry”?

MOLTON: The feeling of being in an emotionally abusive relationship that you cannot control. It is a very frightening place to be.

The visual is super cool and artistic. Where did you get the inspiration for that, and how did it all come together?

TYLER-SIMONE MOLTON: We are big fans of fellow Atlanta indie-rocker Mattiel, and her visual aesthetics so engaged her to create the video for the song. We explained its meaning and basic tone, then allowed her to take it wherever she wanted it to go.

JOHN RENAUD: We did have one request: that she include blue-and-black roses somewhere in the video. All our videos have this motif somewhere in them as an Easter egg. They are our symbol for the pain and beauty we see in everything.

What do you hope fans take away from the song, and what will be coming next from Lesibu Grand?

RENAUD: The last few songs we’ve released have been very issue-oriented, tackling many social issues, most recently women’s rights in “Not Sweet Enough.” With “I’m Not Sorry,” we wanted to pivot to exploring personal, emotional issues, such as feeling lost and out of control within a toxic relationship. After several songs and videos that were a mix of anger and dark humor, we wanted to convey sincerity, sorrow and self-reflection.

We are very excited to be playing AfroPunk Festival on Sept. 25-26 in Atlanta, which will be our first festival show. Most of our time together as a band has been during COVID, so we have not had as many opportunities to play live shows as we should have had. We’re really leaning into building our live show up.  

“I’m Not Sorry” lyrics:

And now you know you can take everything from me
Can have me anytime, can have me anytime
And not you know you can have every part of me
Every part of me, every single time

I should say sorry, to myself
I should say sorry, to myself 

But I’m not sorry, no I’m not sorry
I can’t be sorry when I’m with you
Ooh, ooh

And now you know I’m your puppet on a string
Will you pull me close to you, or leave me dangling
And now you know all the broken pieces of me
Rip me into shreds or leave me hanging dead

I should say sorry, to myself
I should say sorry, to myself 

But I’m not sorry, no I’m not sorry
I can’t be sorry when I’m with you
Ooh, ooh, oh, oh

But I’m not sorry, no I’m not sorry
I can’t be sorry when I’m with you
Ooh, ooh, oh, oh