Hard to figure out what to say about this new Interpol video — I was gonna go with a sorority initiation joke — so it's much appreciated that it came with a lengthy description from artist/director Charlie White. (see below; as always I think it's best if you watch the video first) If you're an Interpol or music videos, you're probably familiar with his last and only other proper music video "Evil", which was also done for Interpol. While that one was basically a full-motion version of the types of photos White was best known for at the time — check this Wired Mag article for a good overview — "Lights" is a more ethereal effort, possibly one of the more haunting and odd looks at sex and drugs that you'll see in a music video. --> watch "Lights" or download an HD version of the video for free at interpolnyc.com
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Charlie White, director:
About the video: "The video aims to complement the somber and meditative build of "Lights" with an equally progressive scenario: the imagined ritual of pheromone production within the body of a three-horned rhinoceros beetle. The video portrays the ballet-like ritual in which a donor, called a "Pheromone Doe" for her ability to excrete the intoxicating fluid, is led through the steps of disrobing, washing, and dressing in preparation for arousal. Once fully prepared, the doe is taken by her courtesans (members of a guild of pheromone-production workers who are addicted to the fluid and live to aid its production) to an arousal plinth where she will build her excitement until she excretes the white pheromone fluid from her eyes, mouth, and fingers. The pheromone is then collected within the chamber for future use by the beetle."
About the beetle: "The three-horned rhinoceros beetle (Chalcosoma caucasus) is one of the most dramatic as well as demonic-looking insects. The male beetle has a heavy black shelled form with a helmet-like cranium bearing three enormous horns. The beetle was the creative starting point for the video, and a complement to the dominance of black within Interpol's aesthetic language. The beetle became the muse, and from it the video's sets, wardrobe, and palette emerged. Details that specifically reference the majestic bug include the courtesan' long, black pinky fingers with their shell-like nails; the shape of the Doe's hair; and the dense use of black-on-black-on-black throughout the video."
Interpol "Lights" (Matador)
Charlie White, director | PJ Sodaski, producer | The Revolver Film Co., production co | Labuda Management, rep | Wyatt Troll, DP | Jarrett Fijall @ Bonch, editor | Sue Tebbutt, production designer | Pamela Neal, hair/make-up | Marjan Malakpour, costume designer | Kevin Kim @ Bonch, colorist | Jannie McInnes, executive producer | Christina Dunkley @ 3D Artist Management, commissioner
