Your music video break begins now. From New York’s Vexillary and 3D artist Leo Andrade (genre: “Cyber Horror”) comes a music video channeling Alien and Venom to imagine a dark sci-fi world for this driving techno-pop anthem. Let’s watch:
I would also accept “cybergoth Majora’s Mask.”
Vexillary is New Yorker Reza Seirafi, who has been pumping out EPs and LPs with high-octane tracks mixing hard techno and primal industrial pop and post-punk hooks. Anka Zielńska talked to the artist back in summer 2022 for The Brvtalist:
Vexillary – “Le Diable” + Q&A [The Brvtalist]
Deep production values flow through all that work in its diversity, and I do mean pop in a complimentary way – these aren’t just techno tracks with some vocals but hit as songs. So the question became how to realize those other worlds visually.
And, well, thank some doom-scrolling because Reza found the collaborator he needed on TikTok. (Bless you, “For You” algorithm.) Enter Denver’s Leo Andrade, aka leos.al, and free and open-source 3D powerhouse Blender (naturally):
Vexillary and Leo spoke about the transformative themes of the track and set out to make an otherworldly sci-fi clip that matched the sonic prowess of the song. Leo then embarked on detailed character design and setting options inspired by the cover art of the single. A full story board and ideation step followed before animation began using Blender as the primary tool.
Here’s their storyboard for a sense of how they worked on this:
The track gives us a first hint of the upcoming Vexillary LP, Horror in Dub. Some notes on that:
‘Animalic’ is the group of fragrance notes in perfumery that are characterised by their animal-like qualities. The learning from Vexillary’s past life as a perfumer’s assistant inspired the song and lyrics that are all about embracing one’s primal side. But the track production was far from primitive.
The technoid rhythms composed on Native Instrument’s Battery quickly laid the groundwork. Followed by synth work with Elektron’s Analog 4 mkll, Waldorf Iridium, and Ableton Live’s native synths that expressed Vexillary’s industrial/EBM leanings.
With the frame of the song in place, it was then time for vocals. Initially tracked by Vexillary himself, Vienna-based vocalist Madishu redubbed the vocals with her own soulful yet laid back style to bring the song a whole new sonic dimension and contrast. The full track was written, produced, and mixed by Vexillary on Ableton and was mastered by Eric Sneo in Germany.
Check Medishu, too (pictured below) – https://www.madishu.com/
Vexillary:
Previous LP outings from 2021 – 2023:
We’ll watch for this LP. And yeah, I’m sure this will give some serious eye candy to cyberpunk/sci-fi fans around here. Some great aesthetics on Leo’s side, too – on Instagram for us olds, if you missed it via the TikTok algorithm:
And TikTok quickies on process:
More:
https://vexillary.bandcamp.com/