Mikael Bitzarakis (aka Plàsi) is opening a new chapter today with his new single "How Do You Know," a collaboration Aisha Badru.

The tender, emotional new track is premiering today on Variance, alongside a gripping and beautiful accompanying video directed by Maxime Beauchamp, the award-winning French-Canadian LGBTQ+ director and writer behind the internationally acclaimed short film IRIDESCENCE. The clip tells a touching story of someone who is gender transitioning while struggling with a father's acceptance. Lyrically and visually, it's almost as if the song was made for this video, which is quite simply about the importance of feeling seen.

"Maximesaw a perspective through our song that Aisha and I didn’t see when we wrote it," says Bitzarakis. "This added dimension gives a deeper meaning to it and shows how the meeting of two art forms can evolve into something bigger than each one on their own.” 

Adds Bitzarakis of the song itself: "The collaboration with Aisha was a highlight for me during a generally dark time in lockdown, a time that kept us away from co-creating but that in a few moments, such as this one, enabled meetings that wouldn’t even have happened in a normal world. The geographical distance was suddenly not an obstacle and is something we should remind ourselves of as we slowly go back to our old habits."

As for those moments in lockdown, the singer, who has spent much of his life hopping between Sweden and Greece, was forced to get creative at the onset of the pandemic, which crippled much of the music industry. Working remotely, he ended up crafted what would become his upcoming album, Foreign Sea, which is out Feb. 4 via Nettwerk Records.

Watch the video for "How Do You Know" below and get the song everywhere tomorrow (Nov. 19).