Synopsis

A working-class Staten Island family struggles after the father loses his job. Financial pressure and mounting frustration push him toward a desperate criminal act, while his wife and son remain caught in the emotional fallout. The video follows the family's ordinary routines and strained relationships with an intimate, naturalistic style before the story turns devastating. As the consequences of the father's decision arrive, the grounded drama gives way to a stark, dreamlike final passage that reflects the song's sense of surrender and loss.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video accompanied "I Could Hear The Water At The Edge Of All Things," a track from Hammock's 2013 album "Oblivion Hymns," released on November 26, 2013.

• It was filmed in Staten Island, New York, using a real family rather than relying entirely on professional actors. The choice was intended to give the domestic scenes a more intimate and believable quality.

• The video's story grew from the filmmaker's desire to make a film about a father and son. After meeting the Staten Island family through a makeup artist, the filmmaker developed the idea into an eight-and-a-half-page script.

• The production was completed in three days. An album trailer followed four days after filming, and the finished music video was delivered about a week later.

• The narrative deliberately begins in a recognizable, down-to-earth setting before breaking away from realism near the conclusion. That shift makes the title's "oblivion" feel like an emotional and visual destination rather than simply a plot detail.

• The clip followed an earlier Hammock collaboration, "Mute Angels," which had won a video competition. Its similarly dramatic approach helped establish a continuing visual relationship between the band and its filmmaker.

• Contemporary coverage highlighted the contrast between Hammock's expansive instrumental post-rock and the video's grim, compact family drama. Vevo's Alt/Indie Spotlight described the result as both tragic and beautiful.