The new music video for garage rocker Monica LaPante's "Tinted Light" is not interested in looking at the glass half full.

"Essentially the song is the opposite of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses," LaPlante said about the song. "It's about embracing seeing things in a darker way."

With shots of the band partially obscured by dim lighting and hazy effects, the visuals accompanying the song mirror the themes in the lyrics effortlessly. "Tinted Light" was first released as a single at the end of 2019 and early plans to create a music video were set aside during the pandemic then reimagined more recently. The artist came in contact with director Abby Thompson after admiring their work on another music video.

"I saw the video they did with Keep for Cheap and really admired their vision. They have an incredible sense for angles and what scenes fit where," LaPlante said. "After seeing that I was like, 'I need to work with this person.'"

Thompson and LaPlante collaborated on the overall aesthetic of the song by exchanging music videos. Thompson referenced Sharon Van Etten's "Seventeen" and LaPlante wanted to weave in the iconic Black Lodge from Twin Peaks.

"It was super fun exchanging ideas with Abby. They were really able to take the vision and run with it," LaPlante said. "They were so great to work with and shooting with them was so comfortable."

Despite the moody aesthetics, "Tinted Light" is, at its heart, a joyous expression of playing music together. In the video, LaPlante and her band shred through the song's intense chorus and thrive in their collective moments, creating a vitality that can only exist as a result of playing as a group.

"It's a rock song and the video really needed to convey that rock energy," LaPlante said. "It just felt like it had to feature the whole band. It helps that they're all really good at what they do and know how to dress."

LaPlante and her band are preparing for their first show in over a year, a socially distant performance at the Hook & Ladder on May 28. A year of a more isolated style of music making has allowed LaPlante to re-enter the live music sphere with a new perspective.

"I've had all this time to sit and record and learn recording software better," LaPlante said. "I have a much better understanding now about the nuances of sound and how everything fits together."

Like many artists, locally and beyond, LaPlante welcomes the return of live music as it becomes safe to gradually begin to convene again. In this unique period of time, musicians have not yet begun packing up their vans to hit the road and venues are opening up their patios and parking lots to host acts from a tight geographic radius. Monica LaPlante is looking forward to a summer where the music community can reconnect and local musicians can catch up with each other's work.

"It's suddenly going to be a very busy couple of months, getting back into live music and promoting it," LaPlante said. "I think it's going to be like every city is having its own summerlong local South By Southwest."