Music

Smerz’ Video for “You See” is a Meditation on Finding Your Words

Henriette and Catharina, the producers behind the Norwegian duo Smerz, make delicate electro-pop imbued with emotion and nimble beats. Today they debut a handheld camera visual treatment for the meditative and echoing “You See?” off of their 2016 EP Okey. Shot by the artists themselves, the video depicts fragments of everyday life from the rippling back muscles of men doing pull-ups, to people eating a hardy breakfast. Smerz are releasing the video in tandem with the announcement of European and U.S. tour dates, including a July appearance in New York at MoMa PS1’s Warmup.

“It’s always hard talking about videos as we don’t want to ruin peoples’ imagination,” wrote Henriette and Catharina in an email to THUMP, “but ‘You See?’ is about communicating and not-communicating your feelings—sometimes sharing them out-loud, sometimes only thinking them. The video reflects this”

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The video ends with a man lunging towards a woman in a bedroom, but cuts off before he reaches her; the viewer will never know if he managed to express what he needed to. Listen to the emotional reverberations of “You See,” see if you can catch them performing live in your city, and stay tuned for more from these up and comers.

Upcoming Performances:
6/7 – London, UK @ Annie Mac Collected
6/25 – Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
7/6 – Paris, FR @ Loud and Proud
7/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ MoMa PS1 Warmup
7/15 – Brooklyn, NY, Sunnyvale
7/19 – San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
7/20 – Los Angeles, CA, Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
7/20 – Los Angeles, CA, Globe Theater
7/22 – Hyères, FR @ MIDI Festival
8/12 – Lehrte, DE @ Fuchsbau Festival
8/23 – Berlin, DE, Kulturbrauerei, PopKultur Festival
8/25 – Lincoln Oak Hill, UK @ Lost Village
9/2 – Bergen, NO @ Perfect Sounds Forever
9/8 – Dorset, UK @ Bestival