The
artist called
nano first came to public attention in 2006 via YouTube
under a few other names, impressing listeners with her distinct vocals. After a number of years as an artist on video
sharing sites, she signed with a label in 2012. She has released 2
albums and a number of singles since then, the latest of which is
mini-album '
Infinity≠Zero
/ Sable', an emotional call to personal revolution. The
video includes some jarring effects shots to match the anguished
lyrics, and imagery made more clear after some research.
From the intro title graphic we see a
young man in black walking into a warehouse of some sort, a
garage-style door grants entry and clatters shut. We're then shown
the band playing, one at a time, and nano sings into an
old-fashioned microphone, hood hung low, concealing her face. We never see her face in full over the course of the video,
giving her a presence like that of a boxer menacing a ring.
We see the young man in tight close-up
as the lyrics continue, looking pained about something. From the
lyrics 'blinded by reality / broken ideology / heart in captivity' we can presume he's suffering the aftermath of shattered delusions.
He's seen in a wider shot, walking towards a piano in a slightly
better lit area. When we next see him, the tense of the sequence is
called into question.
The singer nano is shown again, between
panes of glass that reflect her band-mates – guitar on her right
and drums on the left. It's a strange, ghostly effect, calling to
mind some of the hologram performances of recent years. The young man
is seen walking next to the piano, running his fist along it and
coming to a plunk on the keys as he reaches that end of the
instrument.
Closeups of the young man show him with
a frustrated, angry expression. Another man is seen with a white
shirt on the other end of the piano, walking around it while the
darkly-clothed man is in frame as well. This gives the sequence a
sensation of strange recall, as though the white-shirted person is
there in memory only – more on this later.
Cut with shots of the band, the young
man departs the piano and we see him in extreme closeup, with a
confused look on his face. At around 1:45 there's another closeup,
this time extended, as he appears extremely distraught. The lyrics refer
to 'system shutdown' around this point, and he seems to show it
directly here. The band plays on in the warehouse, on glass and in
solo shots, replete with distressed film effects.
The next time we see the young man he's
walking outside, coming up on a curb, definitely at night. His
solitude seems to reflect lyrics like 'don't tell me that I'm making
another mistake' on some level, or rebellion in the face of being
told he's wrong. The sentiment is one that listeners of all ages can
relate to, but the young tend toward the strongest reaction to these
admonishments.
We see the young man lit strongly from
behind, as though he's under a streetlamp perhaps, and he glances to
the right slowly. The shot transitions to a wide shot – the man's
in the middle, staring at the wall of a closed shop. A projection on
the shop wall shows a crowd of people at a street crossing, I think
they represent the societal voices of defeat of the young man,
painting his impressions and mood the titular '
Sable', although the
lyrical reference is to the black garment as opposed to the shade.
As the lyrics hit a crescendo of sorts,
we see the young man back-lit and staring at the wall, and it sounds
like the lyrics are directed at a society that doesn't foster the
dreams or ideas of the individual. At least they take on this tone
when paired up with the imagery in the clip here, as taken alone they
could refer wholly to one broken by love and finding a new one. The
young man in black looks dazed, and the young man in white appears to
come upon the scene in a better lit shot. The young man in black
picks up a bottle, and hurls it against the wall.
From his act of violence, we cut back
to the band and see a range of solo performance shots, back to nano
between the guitarist and drummer on glass. The violence of the
bottle-throw seems reflected here as the glass shatters, surrounding
nano with falling shards. The young man is seen similarly showered,
although where the glass is coming from is anyone's guess – music
video magic, perhaps.
He appears pained, clutching at his
head and face as though anguished by his thoughts rather than injured
physically by the glass. He rears his head back, and as the song ends
the shot reveals his face showing a bizarrely abject state of
happiness – the lyrical 'new life' perhaps causing this grin.
The track is a strongly intriguing
narrative thread that works with the PV to the other track on the
single, Infinity≠Zero, as I found in looking for confirmation of the lyrics you can see the two
side by side for a clearer understanding of the fragment presented here, further accounting for the presence of the man in the white shirt. The two clips weave to make a more sensical whole. An interesting visual storytelling element from a strong vocal performer, it will be interesting to see what may come next from nano.
By
Josh Campbell
Get it now at CDJapan!
