The Polyphonic Spree - Light and Day

What this video is

Released in September 2004, this video arrived at the convergence of multiple cultural forces: The Polyphonic Spree's song had been embedded in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind earlier that year, dramatically expanding the band's audience far beyond indie circles. The band's choir-robe aesthetic — a Dallas-born collective numbering up to 32 simultaneous members — embodied a post-9/11 yearning for communal…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of early-2000s orchestral indie pop's crossover moment. The Polyphonic Spree's choral rock model — augmenting rock instrumentation with large vocal choir, flute, trumpet, and strings — represented an explicit rejection of rock minimalism and ironic detachment, prefiguring the…

The director

French filmmaker and music video director born 1963 in Versailles. Began career directing videos for his own band Oui Oui before Björk commissioned him to direct 'Human Behaviour' (1993). Became one of the most celebrated music video directors of the…