Rising star and overall artist extraordinaire FKA Twigs has released her music video for “Video Girl.” It’s directed by Kahlil Joseph, who is represented by Pulse Films and created the short film for “Until the Quiet Comes” by Flying Lotus. It even features choreography from Ryan Heffington, who memorably worked on Sia’s “Chandelier” and Arcade Fire’s “We Exist” music videos.
The video opens with the haunting vocal layering of FKA Twigs’ “Preface.” She is dimly lit, in a dark room, watching an inmate from behind a glass window as he watches her. With the lyrics, “I love another, and thus I hate myself,” ringing throughout, we get this oddly intimate and self-conflicting moment between Twigs and a death-row inmate about to receive a lethal injection. With FKA Twigs’ past music videos being digitally transformed and manipulated, this is one of her first raw appearances. Her frizzy hair and her lack of make-up coupled with the black-and-white film color filter place her in a very realistic form.
In a separate room, we see an alter ego of FKA Twigs. Her face and jaw are plated with silver, as she ritualistically dances in a confined prison cell. The music changes to “Video Girl” after the prisoner receives his lethal dose and FKA Twigs now appears in the same room, beside the inmate, dancing for him. There’s a small security camera in the top corner of the room, capturing the moment. When FKA Twigs sings, “the camera’s on you, ain’t that enough?” the camera angle switches to the security feed, as she relates this intimate and personal moment with viewership and an audience watching for pleasure. The song itself is very personal and close to FKA Twigs, as she first came to fame through dancing in other artists’ music videos. She danced for Kylie Minogue, and Jessie J before getting her own big break.
The music video enters a series of questions. Who is this inmate and what is his relation to FKA Twigs? At one moment we think it’s her lover when she gets on top of him and caresses his neck. However, in the choreography she makes a stabbing motion to his heart. Maybe FKA Twigs is just as conflicted as we are. The video ends with a shot of a single tear running down her cheek and the lyric, “I can’t recognize me.” “Video Girl” is a well shot and intriguing music video that may not stand out as significantly as her other videos, but it is a sure staple into the ever-evolving artist that is FKA Twigs.