Resavoir, the genre-fluid moniker of Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Will Miller, has shared a new single entitled “Sunset” which will be featured on the project’s forthcoming self-titled album. The song is built around meditative synth lines that recall the otherworldly compositions of Mort Garson. The exercise never veers far from this original conceit, but the rich tones of Miller’s various instruments give the song a calming, peaceful energy.
The accompanying video was directed by Nik Arthur, who explains, “As blue changes to yellow, orange, and then red, steam clouds roam around a window and form shapes, with the falling sun as their audience. This animated work was completed using a handheld steamer, over two days with perfectly clear skies. Two frames pass for every one synth note, creating a feel of change as gradual as the song, and the sunset.”
Check out the video below, plus a special Q&A with Miller, who dives into the making of the song and its accompanying visual. You can also pre-order Resavoir here.
What made Nik such a good fit to create the video?
Nik’s interest in organic materials is what initially drew me to his work. His style feels truly original to me, which I really respect and admire. We clicked so well over our first Zoom call that I asked him to do all three music videos for the project instead of just one. He said something like, “Your music is what I want my animations to sound like,” and I was like, “Your animations are what I want my music to look like,” and it was the start of a beautiful bromance.
Is there a particular moment or memory you can point to that informed the song’s inspiration?
In November of 2019 my partner Crystal and I were enjoying the sunset at Santa Monica Beach in California when we discovered a piece of bull kelp that had washed ashore. It looked quite alien to us—like it literally looked like it could have been navigating a UFO when it crashed into the ocean. We named this kelp “Mind Control” because it had a special force about it and we couldn’t stop obsessing over it. We may or may not have nibbled on some mushrooms, but we shared this beautiful sunset with our friend Mind Control. For the longest time this song was called “Sunset with Mind Control” but I took out the “mind control” cause it was too much of an inside joke.
How does “Sunset” work with the rest of the record?
The sound of this album is evocative of the golden hour (side A) into the blue hour (side B). “Sunset” lies at the middle of this experience as the last song on side A before things get a little moodier.
Did anyone else play on the recording with you?
This is actually the first Resavoir song I’ve released that, musically speaking, is non-collaborative. I felt like it was important for me to showcase some of my solo work on this album.
You recently worked with SZA. What was that experience like?
I was in LA for my cousin’s wedding when I decided to stay an extra week with my friend Carter, who’s a super-producer of sorts, but also one of my closest companions—we were both in our first band together in high school. He set up a bunch of sessions for that week and one of them was with Rob Bisel and Yuli and the mission was to make some synthy, orchestral ideas for SZA.
We all got along so well and ended up making the instrumental to “Blind” that day. Much later that night Carter and I started the instrumental to “PSA,” which she ended up releasing as an album teaser and continues to open her shows with. I still haven’t met her, but she’s so insanely talented and I legitimately love her music, so getting to be a part of her body of work is a career highlight for sure. She’s actually playing Chicago the day “Sunset” comes out, so maybe I’ll finally get to meet her IRL.
