Video Premiere: Bec Plexus & Pascal Le Boeuf, "mirror image"
On May 9, Bec Plexus threw a 24-hour party, via livestream, to honor the release of her newest album, STICKLIP, in which she created 10 psychedelic music videos to accompany the songs on the record. The videos mimic the live performances they had prepared prior to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Road to Sound is premiering each of these videos over the next ten weeks. This is the sixth article in our series. You can catch up on the whole series here.
The sixth installation of Bec Plexus' video release spree is Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Pascal Le Boeuf's "mirror image." Le Boeuf, whose music often connects the dots between genres and technologies, is a perfect fit for Plexus' surreal world of avant-pop. With "mirror image," he writes music that's harsh and unpredictable, stopping and starting as the beat crashes in unexpected moments. The song perpetually drives forward, even as its melody moves in a stop-and-go fashion. It tells the story of a relationship gone awry as the two people involved begin to hate their similarities; both words and music spiral out of control, bursting into choruses of echoing voices and pummeling beats.
In Plexus' words:
'"mirror image' had been released as a single and also as a music video already. The song has all sorts of layers to it. I actually do know what it's about but I'm not allowed to tell! It's a funny thing with a record that's about things you cannot say out loud, because in some cases, that's the whole point. The songs are successful, they did a good job. And there are secrets! But in a more abstract form, I'm singing towards this other person that seems to be so similar, and it's such a joy in the beginning. We resonate with each other and we recognize ourselves, and we feel less alone. It's a nice thing, we're mirror images, how cool! Throughout the song though, we get too close. And suddenly there's a question of like, 'wait a second, where do you end and where do I begin? Why do you think that the things that I am are actually yours? What are you even thinking, you will never be like me. You suck!' It's that whole transition of how you can relate to someone else but also grow apart.
I think I hear the song way more as a friend relationship, this is entirely my own take on it, not Pascal's story. But the monologue that opens the video feeds into a different perspective, where it's more about a love relationship. The main character is getting over a breakup, and she comes up with this ritual to get over him. She collects all of his things, digs a hole in the garden, throws all his stuff in, and then sets it on fire with her friends there and these massive flames. It's like this is the end of it, she's done with him! But then the monologue ends with 'that night i slept in his old boxer shorts' — so she still actually held on to something of his. But, she keeps this secret because all her friends think that she really burnt it all and said goodbye. I think it's a less obvious connection, but I guess it also leaves a lot to the imagination then."
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Posted in Bec Plexus Video Series, PremieresTagged #experimentalmusic, #experimentalpop, #musicvideo, #newmusic
Prev Video Premiere: Lumiere, "Doppler"
Next Video Premiere: Bec Plexus & Richard Ayres, "give me your heart"