Joshua Bassett Faces Lingering Feelings for an Ex in 'Doppelgänger' Music Video

The star co-directed the video, which was released on Friday

Published on February 25, 2022 09:45 AM

Joshua Bassett is forced to face his lingering feelings for a former flame in the music video for his latest single "Doppelgänger."

The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star, 21, released the bittersweet ballad on Friday alongside a nostalgic video he co-directed with Elle Mills.

In the clip, Bassett walks into a café and is struck by memories of an ex-love after he spots someone who looks eerily like her.

"I guess I'm not as over you as I thought that I was/I saw someone who looked like you at our favorite coffee shop," he sings.

Joshua Bassett - Doppelgänger (Official Music Video) — Joshua Bassett. Joshua Bassett/Youtube

As the video continues, Bassett remembers the happier times with his ex, including dancing in the kitchen, swimming in the pool, playing piano together and sharing wine in the bathtub. Each time he has a memory, he then flashes to the same space, but this time, with him by himself.

"She wore a yellow dress/Same as when we met/I couldn't believe my eyes," he sings, adding that he's "scared to death" to see her, as he "wanted it to be" her.

The star released three songs in December — "Crisis," "Secret" and "Set Me Free" — and at the time, warned fans that there would be "a lot of loud voices in this next chapter – positive, negative, and everywhere in between."

He then shared a request that all of his listeners keep things civil and kind.

"all i ask is you treat everyone with respect and love," he wrote. "anyone who sends hate on my 'behalf' is no fan of mine."

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2022 is something of a fresh start for Bassett, who began 2021 with the release of "Drivers License," Olivia Rodrigo's smash debut single that was widely believed to be about him.

Days after the song was released, drawing hateful comments from her fans, Bassett was hospitalized in "the worst pain of [his life]" with septic shock and heart failure.

"[The doctors] told me that I had a 30 percent chance of survival," he told GQ in June. "They told me that if I had not checked into the hospital within 12 hours, I would have been found [dead] in my apartment."

He also revealed that he is a survivor of sexual abuse, and is continuing to process it.

"I think a keyword for me in this healing process has been 'and' because a lot of times what we'll say is, 'Yes, they hurt me, but they're hurting themselves.' And what that does is it invalidates your own experience," he said in December. "And the key for me is saying and because and can make can allow both to exist."