RIP Ivan – he’s dead, but he’s alive (but in his head, he’s dead).

 

The latest video from Vague is shot in sepia, seemingly shot in a very gonzo style, and it’s for their cheerily titled and themed recent single The death of Ivan. If that doesn’t give you an idea of what kind of video this is going to be, then you’re probably smarter than the rest of us… because the video is confusingly not depressing or morbid. In fact, it’s just kind of random and weird.

The song itself is very melancholy – minimalistic instrumentation coupled with a sullen vocal detailing how “he [presumably Ivan] is alive but in his head he’s dead” and how “life is all phoney” – but the video doesn’t really represent too much of that feeling. In fact, a lot of the video seems to focus around home movie style clips melded together.

Before you jump to assumption, no – this is not a type of music video that uses home movies to give the impression that it’s Ivan’s home movies, that would make sense. The video just seems to slump together random bits of sepia footage and mixes it in with some old film markings and a general VHS feel. It’s unusual. It probably makes sense on some level, but that is level we just haven’t reached yet.