At its best, a music video is an innovative art form raising the level of whatever song it’s promoting. Such is certainly the case with Cosmo Sheldrake‘s “Egg and Soldiers,” an ambitious animated clip incorporating a panorama of styles and techniques as it follows a large-footed protagonist on a surreal adventure.
“I’m very excited to release this new animated video for ‘Egg and Soldiers.’ It has been amazing watching all of the different worlds come to life,” Sheldrake says. “It was a lot of fun watching [director/producer] May Kindred-Boothby and [animators] Zita Baynes and Rob Wills making it all happen. When May suggested making the video in this sort of patchwork way it felt immediately appropriate, as to me it reflected the way in which I made the music. A kind of collage process, a bringing together of different textures and sound worlds.”
“It’s kind of the dream animation project for me, and something I’ve been wanting to make for a long time,” Kindred-Boothby adds. “Originally I was going to get a different animator to make each section, but in the end I got too excited about all the possibilities, so I ended up making a lot more than I imagined. It was great working with Rob and Zita, and seeing how their imaginations took the idea off in totally unexpected and wonderful ways.”
When questioned about the inspiration behind the clip, she revealed that it’s all in her head: “I guess the idea comes from having a restless mind. I always find it hard to stick to a style. Each method of making has such merits, so this was a way of not having to be restricted by that. The main reason why I love animation as a medium is that it allows you to go anywhere and make anything happen, and this really allowed me to push my imagination and see what came out.”
“Egg and Soldiers” is taken from Sheldrake’s latest LP, The Much Much How How and I on Tardigrade Records. Watch the video below.
