Q&A: Creatively Inspired By “Stranger Things,” Isabel LaRosa Unveils Her Cinematic Music Video Trilogy

Q&AMusic

Jul 5

☆ BY Steph Dunlop ☆

WITH AN EERILY DESOLATE SOUNDSCAPE — Isabel LaRosa has created her own haunting spin on the hyperpop genre, producing masterpieces that have awarded her TikTok notoriety. Forming the narrative of her music videos on themes entirely separate from each of the track’s lyrics, the visuals add a delicious hint of danger, amplifying the intensity of the emotions poured into the three songs. Inspired by the horror and suspense genres, the influence of TV shows such as Stranger Things is overwhelmingly evident throughout the visuals, with bright blue and green lights contrasting dark and derelict streets.

The first track in the trio to emerge, “HAUNTED,” journeys through the lasting impression of toxic relationships. Dipping into both romantic and platonic partnerships, LaRosa explores the everlasting feelings of worthlessness that these relationships leave behind them. The video trilogy depicts a woman unaware she is being followed by a strange man. The “HAUNTED” music video portrays the beginning of this encounter, showing LaRosa herself walking through empty streets, with a dark figure close behind her.

“HELP,” the second video in the trilogy, has a much quicker pace, as the danger intensifies and the suspense builds. The visual makes creative use of a seemingly indecisive traffic light, sprinkling in clips of LaRosa attempting to escape from her car. The lyrics in the track, however, focus on the helplessness that comes with always supporting people who never reciprocate.

The trilogy’s final track, “HEAVEN,” explores teenage drug use from an outsider's perspective. In the lyrics, LaRosa discusses being surrounded by friends who use drugs and alcohol to escape harsh realities while she remains sober. The visual for “HEAVEN” follows the same girl as the previous two videos, as she fights with the slow-rising awareness that she has died. Throughout the video, she begins to realize she is still being followed by something, but as she comes to terms with her own mortality the sun rises for the first time in the trilogy.

Read on below to dive deeper into the creative process behind LaRosa’s video trilogy and the songs that soundtrack them.

LUNA: Your video trilogy concept is super impressive! How did the idea for this first come to you?

LAROSA: When I listen to any song, I visualize it like it would be in a sequence of scenes in a movie or TV show. When I was first coming up with a specific concept and storyline for the videos, I was walking around alone at night, which most definitely influenced the videos conceptually. The sense of paranoia that I felt walking alone, I wanted to amplify in the videos. The storyline and general concept behind the trilogy reflects a hightented version of my own experiences.

LUNA: What was the creative process behind each video like?

LAROSA: The creative process behind each video honestly just consists of me listening to the songs on repeat and writing down what I visualize shot by shot in my notes app. I do this in any location but I prefer my hometown at night. I bike or walk around my neighborhood at pretty late hours; just because of the quiet, it’s easy to really be in the world I’m trying to create.

LUNA: What are the stories behind the lyrics for each track? What drew you into writing about these themes?

LAROSA: “HAUNTED” describes the feeling of never fully leaving a harmful relationship or friendship, always feeling the weight of a person’s presence and the consequence that has on your life without them. “HELP” goes into how one-sided relationships — where all you do is give but never receive anything back — can make you feel like your head is underwater. Finally, “HEAVEN” discusses escapism in the form of suburban house parties and kids my age using drugs and alcohol to run from what actually scares them. To feel like they’re “reaching heaven.” Watching this all from an outside lens shows what it really is. All of these topics are things that I’ve experienced, things that have left an impact on me. So when writing, I find the lyrics that feel the most honest are the ones that come from real emotion.

LUNA: How do the themes explored in each track’s lyrics compare to the themes explored in the music video trilogy?

LAROSA: As the song describes more personal experience, the videos show the world and the feeling that the songs create. The videos take the emotion from each song and bring it into a darker world and stories that encapsulate each song, while maintaining an overarching storyline.

LUNA: A lot of the inspiration for the videos came from your love of the horror genre, specifically the TV show Stranger Things. What elements of Stranger Things inspire you most? How does this show up in the music videos?

LAROSA: I’ve grown up being fascinated by horror and thriller movies, so when I first watched Stranger Things when I was 12 or 13, I was obsessed. I had never seen something that was scary because it felt so close to my actual life. Growing up in a wooded suburban neighborhood, it automatically felt close to my own fears and experiences. The videos definitely reflect the tension of knowing something is after you but you don’t know where or what it is. Visually, the woods and nighttime atmosphere reflect how the show has influenced my taste and the type of horror I love the most.

LUNA: Which of the three tracks do you feel you have the closest connection with and why?

LAROSA: I feel the closest connection to “HAUNTED” because I’ve had many personal experiences that relate to the song. The feeling of toxic people leaving your life but still feeling like they watch you is something that hits close to home for me.

LUNA: The first release of the trilogy, “HAUNTED,” went viral on TikTok. What was that like for you?

LAROSA: When “HAUNTED” started to really move, to be honest I was surprised, not because I didn’t love or believe that the song could, I just hadn’t had anything move like that before so it was kind of shocking at first. It was really amazing to see people get so excited about it — I had never experienced that before and it was such a cool thing to see.

LUNA: How would you describe the atmosphere your music creates?

LAROSA: My music seems to create a dark, emotional, but also powerful world. I want people to be able to feel a part of the sonic world through applying their own experiences to the feeling it brings them. The visual atmosphere is a dark, slightly menacing world that we’ve only seen the surface of. Every song just uncovers another layer.

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