In a roulette of nightmares, indie pop artist csndra transports us to an eerie reality in her latest music video: a glorified holding cell. While the singer’s newly released single “dontuknow?” is deceptively upbeat, the video’s introduction is foreboding. Leading lady csndra lays sprawled out on a laminate floor, white walls encaging her in a sort of panic room — though we later find out she is in an elevator. An intercom blares as csndra awakens, informing her that she agreed to take part in an isolation study, though subjects will not remember doing so. “As you participate in this experiment,” the disembodied voice explains, “we encourage you to stay true to your emotions.”

Atop these warnings, the initial, twangy notes of “dontuknow?” sound, an elevator door opening with a ding to reveal csndra awake and upright in her would-be cell. She begins to sing and dance within the elevator, seemingly immune to her stark surroundings. “I just gotta know/will you think of me when we grow old,” csndra croons, swaying with her arms in the air. The true nature of the “experiment” becomes more clear. At the beginning of the video, csndra finds medical release forms on the floor, the title “Lovers Clinical Trial” emblazoned across the top. She was urged to stay true to her emotions and that is precisely what csndra embodies as she launches into the pre-chorus, “i gotta know will we make it baby/i needa know what you thinkin’ lately.”

Even though the singer’s movements are tinged with alacrity, her lyrics evoke a more poignant experience, “give me a reason i’ll go the distance/all of the seasons don’t feel so different/askin’ myself why i feel so distant,” she begs to an imagined person, dancing alone behind sliding elevator doors. While “dontuknow?” reads as a diary entry recounting an anxious attachment to an ex, the groovy melody makes you want to luxuriate in movement, csndra’s “la la la’s” giving a humorous levity to a song about cyclical thoughts.

With its layered meaning and compelling hook, “dontuknow?” is a refreshingly dynamic bedroom pop song, integrating R&B and funk elements to portray the biting pitfalls of failed love. 

“dontuknow?” is the second single off of csndra’s upcoming EP, Lover’s Club pt.1 and is now available on streaming platforms.