How much does effortful emotional rejection really free the rejector? That seems to be the question just below the poppy-pretty surface in Manchester-based artist Abbie Ozard’s new single ‘Crocodile Tears’.
“I don’t want your crocodile tears/’cause nothing really matters now that your gone” she sings in her breathy reverb. In the video filmed and directed by Charlotte Rudd and Ozard, she maintains earnest eye contact with the viewer while wearing a child’s crocodile costume, challenging the audience to take her heartbreak seriously and simultaneously challenging them to deny it.
But it is true that we always trust our own tears more than others—other people’s tears will always be a bit suspect. ‘Crocodile Tears’ builds to a triumphant climax with crocodile Ozard wrecking a picnic, destroying a sweet and classic symbol of togetherness—poking holes in the romance.