Our own Zach Baron may have felt that How to Dress Well’s latest album Total Loss just wasn’t quite finished, but the new Luke Gilford-directed video for “& it was U” comes together beautifully while maintaining a cockeyed sense of winking mystery. The clip opens on a prayer circle bedecked in yellow, then cuts to a caped cult leader with blond dreadlocks riding a gold-plated Segway. He eventually finds his followers in the back room of a Chinese restaurant, and leads them in a transcendental dance party.
Like Cloud Nothings’ harrowing “No Future/No Past” video, this one was produced by Urban Outfitters, who posted a brief Q&A with HTDW’s Tom Krell on their blog. “The video, to my mind, is about the insatiable need to believe,” Krell said. “We talked about the very special character of the human soul in its unassailable tendency towards magic and inspiration. We talked about love and the supernatural within the everyday or mundane. Magic and beauty can exist anywhere, at any time. Also, the whole vibe was inspired by Safe by Todd Haynes.”
