[Premiere] Take a Cosmic Journey in Rone's New Video for "Sing Song"

French electronic music artist Rone, a.k.a, Erwan Castex, packages exquisite sonic odysseys into the pop format. His ability to conjure wordless narratives takes form in his music videos, from the wondrously hand-drawn animation of "Bye Bye Macadam" to the whimsical, gravity-defying stop-motion visuals of "Parade." A similar aesthetic is explored in Rone's latest music video "Sing Song,” off new album Creatures (InFiné), which premieres today on The Creators Project.

Directed by Paulynka Hricovini based on illustrations by Liliwood, an animated Rone is seen deposited on another planet inhabited by fantastical creatures. Rone also zips through a galaxy, falls through space, and floats in a tumultuous alien ocean. At one point he swan dives into this fantastic orb, where his body's wavelengths—twinned with the music—seem to fuse with world's interior rhythms.

With Rone's approval, Liliwood, who is also Rone's girlfriend, illustrated the video's storyboard (and mood board), while Paulynka took up the animation and direction duties. The two told The Creators Project that while Rone was involved in the storyboarding process, they were given carte blanche for the 2D animation, and based it and the LP and CD inlays on Liliwood's graphic design elements. Because of this, influences ranging from The Little Prince to Alice in Wonderland and Winsor McCay's Little Nemo found their way into the video.

But, as Liliwood suggested, no definitive imagery for the video emerged immediately. Like objects appearing out of fog, this imaginary universe required time to take shape. This is apparent when looking at early sketches versus the final product whereupon black-and-white ink illustrations, simultaneously consistent with but different from the stop-motion animated video, are works of art in and of themselves.

“Sometimes you can get some pictures that tell you something, but nothing is clearly defined,” Liliwood said. “You can imagine tons of opportunities, you can look at those characters a long time and invent a bunch of stories. This is how I usually like working, creating images with three dots at the end. It's also the way it happened for [the] Creatures universe. Rone is wandering in a world where all those creatures live. They encounter each other and everything starts to be possible.”

“There was a lot of discussion between both of us in the early stages, then I tried to soak up the most of his universe,” Liliwood said. “In my studio, I can hear him working on the melodies, arpeggios, sound loops… I think that's how these little monsters found their way to my drawing table. It's a nice exercise to try to put images to music.

This interplay between sound and vision was also important to Paulynka, who sees the two mediums as closely-related. For her, they naturally produce a type of a synaesthesia.

“Playing a sound [or] music generates images in us, and images can lead us to create a sound, a melody,” she said. “They both have the power to create moods and atmospheres and each inspires the other. In addition, when an artist creates, he shares a part of himself, his personality, and his worldview in his work.

“Thus, at first listen, there was already Erwan’s musical universe,” Paulynka added. “All ideas were brought together, but they remain consistent with his world and his desires. On the other hand, new ideas and discussions are always very welcome.”

And what of the fantastic planet's creatures? From what Liliwood said about them, they act as miniature metaphors for the emotions we experience. Like Rone's sounds, they are tiny engines of creation.

“Those little monsters are representations of the good and the evil—they are neither good nor bad, just as in the nature things are not good or bad,” Liliwood said. “They can frighten us, soothe us, bring us all kinds of emotions, but it is not in their intentions. They found themselves black and white randomly for graphic purposes.”

Rone's Creatures is out February 9th on InFiné.

U.S. Headlining Tour Dates:

MAY

23 - Chicago - Primary Night Club

24 - Detroit - Movement Festival

26 - Philadelphia - The Dolphin

27 - Washington DC - U Street

28 - Boston - Middlesex Night Club

29 - Brooklyn - Good Room

30 - Montreal - Theatre Fairmount

JUNE

2 - Toronto - Wrong Bar

4 - LA - Los Globos

5 - San Francisco - Rickshaw Stop

6 - Seattle - The Crocodile

Related:

[Premiere] Journey to the Afterlife in This Will Destroy You's New Music Video

[Premiere] Watch Inventions' Stormy New Video for 'Springworlds'

Inside Chad Vangaalen's Cosmic Music Video for Shabazz Palaces

[Video Premiere] Skrillex "Doompy Poomp” Directed by Fleur & Manu