Made by Swedish director Tarik Saleh, it is the quintessence of Lykke Li's intense song I Follow Rivers.
It all started when I got really really annoyed at the radio version we are served with, with Irish radio stations, the "magician mix"...I hate it, I think it destroys the beautiful depth of the song. In photographic terms, it's as if a retoucher went on and worked on a stunning picture that had a huge tonal range, vibrant colours, and just pushed the levels up, the contrast flat and added a 10% grey fill on top of the picture.
Went on to Youtube, check if I had dreamt another - lovely- version out of this radio version, discovered an interesting cover from Belgian band Triggerfinger along the way (oh this Ruben is so sexyyy), except they really need to get interesting videos going to match with their cool band pics. Never tried a music video before but I sure would give it a shot with them !
I have to say what Saleh came up with, in terms of aesthetics and storytelling is just unique and ... actually quite powerful, it just talks to you, regardless of what your own story is. It's just as raw, pure but not a pretty pure, a rough, brutal pure and it really feels as if he successfully managed to turn Lykke Li's words into a whole visual universe, a story with just as many connotations as her text. There's also something equally intriguing, mysterious about his vision, that I feel translates quite well her odd sounding words... it's like nothing quite make sense but our heart and soul get it anyway. Favorite moment : just past the 2nd minute : beautiful close up of her face finally revealed (I mean, she's pretty, right ? it was a long wait, 2 minutes, to see her face !) and then oh so stunning scene of her long black skirt and her long black scarf and her long black sleeves floating in the air as she starts running with thick high boots against the snow backdrop... and her gloved hands desperately trying to reach out to the man she chases...wow...
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