Santiago’s The Holydrug Couple explore the surreal boundaries between dreaming, death, and the afterlife, in their new video for “Dreamy” off their upcoming album, Moonlust. As the track fades in with its liquid-choral guitar and playful bassline, the video follows a tracking shot of a man walking through a night-time city block in slow motion. He carries a gasoline can, timidly looking over his shoulder, before turning a corner, and stopping in the middle of the street as the song’s chorus flourishes. Where the track is somewhat ambiguous in its sound, be it achingly melancholy or amazedly uplifting, it’s immediately realized that the video is a little more resolute in its sadness. Exasperated, the man pours the contents of the can all over himself and heartbreakingly falls to his knees.
A collage of images ensues, echoing the crystalline synth-infused interlude, melding retro super 8-style camerawork with shadowy smoky imagery (including the apparent filmed version of the duo’s own promotional photo), all pointing largely to the notion of “life flashing before your eyes.” The instrumental interlude breaks into the final chorus, and the man is seen crystal clear, standing back bent backwards in a gorgeous and ancient looking forest floor, tremendous trees and vines stand among a foggy mist. He eventually makes his way to a beach, and hopefully peace, as the track suddenly closes. The video was directed by the band’s Manuel Parra, in collaboration with Alberto Herrera. Parra notes, “This is my first attempt taking the visual imagery of The Holydrug Couple and transforming it into moving images. This video speaks about what I feel for the song; being asleep, staring at your dream, deciding if you want to awake or not.’
Moonlust is out next week on Sacred Bones.
