This Breathtaking Music Video Had No Soundtrack – Now it is a Collaborative Work of Art

The music video medium is usually considered an add-on to the central piece of art work – the sound. But in a new collaboration between Norwegian electronic wizard Olefonken and Thea Hvistendahl of the Norwegian film collective Frokost Film, that relationship has been turned upside down. The ambitious video project was initially created for another musician, who Frokost Film says decided that the result was ”too weird”, though I don’t know what kind of prudish plebeian one would have to be to write off gagballs, sexual tension and children taking off their underwear as “weird”.

Luckily, fellow Norwegian Olefonken found the pictures captivating and set out to produce a fitting soundtrack, much like a composer creating the score for a film, drawing direct inspiration from the imagery. The two types of aesthetic representation compliment each other quite well, sending pleasure tingling down your spine, from neck to asscrack.

”Quaaludes”, the track in question, is atmospheric electronica with an organic sound-palette and delightfully dreamy vocals. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Trentemøller’s Nordic, electro-noir vibes, but the song actually has a bit of a darker tint than some of Olefonken’s earlier stuff.

Olefonken, or Ole Petter Hergum, is a quiet Norwegian, raised in Africa. The scorching sun of his childhood seems imprinted in his music, with the influence of the Norwegian crags jutting through at times. But despite the unmistakable warmth of his tracks, there’s a Scandinavian melancholy somewhere deep in the mix. He has deservedly been compared to Todd Terje, and his laid-back tunes definitely have some of the same post-disco elements, but with a less frisky and more immersive approach.

After watching “Quaaludes” a good five or six times, and hurriedly adding it to whatever summertime playlist you’re currently rolling with, I highly recommend you check out his Terabyte Transfer set live from some warehouse in Tokyo. It is a trip that takes you through soulful 90’s house, 21st century disco and vocoders that sound like something off of Random Access Memories, and it’s damn good.