Darkstar, Empress Of - Reformer

What this video is

Released in June 2016, the 'Reformer' video sits at the intersection of UK experimental electronic music and NYC art-pop. Darkstar, a British duo on Warp Records, were expanding their sound beyond the post-dubstep atmospheres of their early catalog. Empress Of (Lorely Rodriguez), a Honduran-American artist based in New York, had broken through in 2015 with her debut album Me on Terrible Records/XL Recordings. Their…

Why it matters

The track and video represent a synthesis of UK atmospheric electronic production and US electro-pop songcraft. Darkstar's beat construction, rooted in post-dubstep and chillwave traditions, provides a lush backdrop for Empress Of's melodic vocal performance, creating a genre-blending document of…

The director

David M. Helman (b. August 5, 1988, Mission Viejo, California) is a Los Angeles-based director, writer, and editor represented by Iconoclast (USA/UK/DE). Known for blending visually arresting images with nuanced storytelling, he has directed music videos for…