Arkadin - "Valhalla" (Official Video)

Arkadin: Valhalla

Keyboard shortcuts take command in an ode to lovers past

We have all undoubtedly longed for the ability to rewind time (<<), to undo a mistake (cmd+z), or pause it for a break in a hectic day ( II ). French director Virgile Texier turned fantasy into music-video reality, implanting keyboard commands in a series of IRL situations for Arkadin, the new project from Paris-based vocalist Howard Hughes.

    “Beyoncé's 'Drunk in Love' is as beautiful as Serge Gainsbourg's '69 Année érotique'”

The new chapter for the artist fuses the playful vocals that won over French-speaking audiences through solo work and fronting pop act Coming Soon with electronic R&B sounds. Born out of the memory mash-up of past loves including a dancer nicknamed Valhallah, “like the Viking's heaven,” the track is also inspired by Beyoncé (Hughes cites “Drunk in Love” ‘as beautiful as Serge Gainsbourg's '69 Année érotique"’).

“It occurred to me that nowadays internet users have almost absolute control over the videos they watch,” says Texier of the inspiration for her video. “But the users don't yet have power over the action itself: they cannot modify what’s happening in front of their eyes. In my mind that would definitely represent the next step in video evolution: image and narrative control.”