tankt

…let alone the “Arcadia” song itself, and it’s been out for well over half a year now. This is the older Morr Music sound I so dearly love, with a dash of Thom Yorke gone solo too. It’s both organic and mechanic.

I found the song first, after buying two tickets to see Akron/Family in San Francisco a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ticketmaster now rewards you for paying double for your ticket with a free download from iTunes. I had long since given up on the iTMS, since I detest the terms of engagement and poor sound quality (always puffed up to sound ‘better’ on those flimsy white headphones), but two free songs were enough to get me interested, so off I went to find something new.

Obviously, I was hooked in an instant, and I listened to this song over and over again (along with the other one I downloaded at the same time, which is good, but not nearly as memorable). And then I found the video:

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything as haunting, nor initially as off-putting, but I sat transfixed as I watched it. I am in awe of what people can do with illustration and animation, but rarely see both done so well at once. Organic and mechanic, again, and the results are stunning.

I’m not convinced this particular imagery is the perfect fit for the song, but since I’m genetically incapable of deciphering lyrics on my own, I can only point to what I feel in the song. And in that regard, there’s a certain soaring quality held back with a muted melancholy, and it’s this dichotomy that gives the song its tension and suspense.

There’s a beauty in both the song and the video, even if it remains unfulfilled in the end. But that’s what kept me listening to the song again and again, and now keeps me watching the video just as often. And I suppose that fact alone makes the video a worthy companion to the song.