Tom Odell Explains the Powerful Process Behind His Fan-Driven Video for ‘Monsters’

After a nearly two-year hiatus from releasing new music, English singer-songwriter Tom Odell has been back in full swing this year, and his latest stunning and heart-rending releases have been worth the wait.

One of his newest songs is "Monsters," inspired by Tom's own anxieties and difficulties during a rough time in his life, which conveys his pain in every haunting note and syllable. Before releasing the song, he asked fans to share what the word "monster" meant to them in the form of videos and images, and today, fans get to see the fruits of that collaboration in the form of Tom's new music video for the song.

Tom received more than 400 submissions from fans revealing how they deal with life and struggle with its emotional ups and downs, from which he personally selected the clips and images that appear in the intimate and powerful video.

Tom's next album, coming out in June, will also be titled Monster after the captivating track. There's something so powerful about "Monster" and this video, and we got the chance to ask Tom why he made the video this way, and what that means to him.

Sweety High: What inspired you to reach out to fans and ask them what "monster" meant to them for this video?

Tom Odell: I've suffered from panic attacks for years and I wrote the song about trying to overcome them. The more I've begun to speak about this subject, the more I've realized so many people suffer from them, too. The song has helped me be confident about talking about this stuff, and I thought maybe it could help other people share their story.

SH: What were you most surprised to see in their responses, and what do you think it taught you about your fans and what the song means?

TO: Honestly, the first time we put all the clips together, I cried. It was so moving to see people being so vulnerable. I think it's one of the most powerful videos I've ever been involved with. I thought I was just gonna make like a 30-second video to put on Instagram or something, and I had this whole other music video I had made for the song, but I ended up scrapping that, and going with this as the main music video as it was so good. My fans are incredible. Maybe more so than I ever realized.

Love learning the stories behind your favorite tracks? Click HERE to find out the inspiration behind Tone Stith's "Devotion."