There’s a certain type of magic that can only be captured when you take a piece of music out of its own context and transfer it into a wildly different one. Most music videos operate on some variation of that principal, either to tell their own stories alongside those of the actual songs or simply to provide some engaging visual accompaniment. Today’s premiere falls squarely into the latter category, but still manages to create a fully different scenario for the music than its contents would suggest. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
‘The fortune of the fool / Who’s gonna hurt who‘
Ay Wing is a Swiss singer/songwriter currently based in Berlin, Germany. Her dreamy, lofty take on pop music takes inspiration from 60s music, while benefiting from modern production techniques. A musical marriage of the rustic and the modern, if you will. With her gripping, space-filling vocals, she could easily conjure up any sort of love-stricken tragedy, but on “Fortunes”, the song whose video we are premiering today, she has chosen to draw from the most famous couple of star-crossed paramours in literary history: Romeo and Juliet. In doing so, she pays homage to the difficulties of love and relationships in our modern times.
Without further ado – about nothing (sorry, I couldn’t resist) – here’s the official live session video to “Fortunes”! Watch it below:
As you can see, I wasn’t joking when I said that the video sets an unorthodox stage for its accompanying song. By placing Ay Wing and her backing band (Laura Livers on keys and bass, Danny Ahmad on guitar, and Daniel Guerrero on drums) on a floating platform in Lake Seelisberg at the foot of Niederbauen mountain, Switzerland, the crew around filmmaker Steve Glashier was able to add a visual layer of uncertainty to the song’s lyrical exploration. Shooting at this idyllic location came with a host of unique challenges, especially since they chose a rather specific time window for the video, as Glashier divulged:
‘There were roughly ten minutes to capture the subtle, ethereal metamorphosis from dawn into daybreak. The entire crew had to be quick.‘
Luckily, the results of their struggles speak for themselves. Amidst the gentle waves and subtle, contrasting lights, Ay Wing‘s ruminations about love look every bit as stunning as they sound. Considering the fact that this is a one-take video, shot on a body of water no less, the band sounds absolutely incredible. They are absolutely airtight, locked into each other’s performance. Each instrument has its own snug pocket in the mix, with Ahmad’s nuanced guitar work standing out in particular. Without even an iota of hyperbole, this is one of the best live videos I have seen in recent memory.
‘Choosing a face / In an empty palace‘
If you liked what you’ve seen and heard above, you should definitely go and follow Ay Wing on her official Facebook page. Her latest EP Ice Cream Dream was released last year; you can check it out on Spotify. I for one can’t wait to find out what her next move will be – if it’s anywhere as good as “Fortunes”, I’m sure she’ll have a bright future ahead of her.
Photo Credit: Steve Glashier and Jonas Späinghaus
