In 2019, singer-songwriter Anthony D'Amato spent a month living in New Orleans and made an EP called Five Songs From New Orleans. He recorded it in the 19th century house he was living in with some local musicians and acoustic instruments.
This past January, D'Amato headed back to New Orleans. In March when the coronavirus pandemic hit, he decided to stay put. What came out of it is a social distancing video set on the very empty streets of The Big Easy for his song, "Love, Again," filmed by D'Amato and his partner, Jane Beaird, on an iPhone 8.
"If you've spent any time in New Orleans, you may recognize some familiar sights (the historic St. Charles Streetcar, the grand homes of the Garden District, the iconic above-ground tombs in Lafayette Cemetery), but more than anything, we found ourselves drawn to capturing the everyday subtleties we've learned to appreciate more than ever on our daily walks: live oak roots bursting through the cracked sidewalk, Spanish moss wafting in the breeze, decaying wrought iron fences covered in ivy," D'Amato told NPR via email.
"Look closely and you'll spot Mardi Gras beads still dangling from tree branches in some of the shots, eerie reminders of the kind of carefree communal gatherings we all took for granted just a few months ago, but seem unthinkable now," he continued. "With the neighborhood so quiet and still, the charming beauty of New Orleans took on a more lonely, melancholic air, but we found that if you looked closely, you could still see signs of hope and resilience everywhere, which made it a perfect backdrop for the song. "
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