Did you guys ever see that J.Lo movie The Cell from back in 2000? J.Lo was a rather brilliant child psychologist (of course!) who, via some new fangled future technology, plunged herself fearlessly into the mind of a serial killer. Boiled down to the basics she went to talk to the killer’s psyche to find out where he was hiding his most recent, still alive victim. While she was there she also found out the root of his issues (hint: his childhood really sucked). She did all of this in a range of fantastical outfits and each scene was super surreal and tricked out, like a still from a 90s music video where the word budget was banned. Additionally in each scene there was a pressing sense of unease—this was a horror movie after all.
All of which is to say that the video for Grace’s debut single “Pluto” comes off like the minimalist, monochrome inversion of The Cell—Grace is the queen of her domain, on a pedestal, ripe for worship, but she’s also caught and suspended, caged by white fibres and coccooned by gauzey whatever-that-fabric-might-be. And then things get really oily.
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It is a fittingly abstract, out-of-the-box elegant video for a song that revels in liquid sonics, shuffled beats, jingle bell shakes, and Grace’s doomily gorgeous intonations (think PJ Harvey if she was raised on synths rather than distorted guitars). Sensuously spare verses creep towards a chorus that’s full blown pop without losing any of its edge. Oh yeah, and TVOTR’s David Sitek produced it.
So far this is the only song from the Perth-based artist—apart from a very stripped live rendition of “Eliteless” (very Jeff Buckley beautiful)—but tis the season for ‘Ones to Watch’, so keep your ears perked.
Kim Taylor Bennett is snowed in and loving it. She’s on Twitter.
