The return of Woodkid!

A very welcome return for Woodkid with a new video for the track Goliath.

The artist known to friends and family as Yoann Lemoine was responsible for 2013's The Golden Age, one of this blog's favourite albums in recent years.

Originally a graphic designer, he'd directed music videos before then for the likes of Yelle and  Nolwenn Leroy as well as international acts like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey.

By the time his early singles - Iron, and Run Boy Run - were released ahead of his album, he was already a respected figure and his visual style added significantly to the music.

Seven years is a long time in music, and Goliath comes ahead of Woodkid's second album. Since his debut, there have been a handful of releases including the 2016 Ellis EP and the soundtrack for Mexican film Desierto. To say this new album is 'anticipated' is a bit of an understatement.

During the time between albums, he's hardly been idle having directed the iconic video for the Harry Styles single Sign of the Times, a number one single in the UK, a top five in the USA and a top three in France. The video has had over 500 million views on YouTube and was the winner of the British Artist Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.

Needless to say, the new track is an epic, but with an understated and introspective vocal. There are obviously echos of his earlier work, but it's far from a simple continuation of his earlier work.

The video, shot in the Czech Republic, was shown as a premier on YouTube following a live chat. Asked what inspired him for the new album, he replied: "The industrial scale of things, and the smallness of humans."

He added that other inspiration included: "Many more other inspirations, Akira, Japanese breakcore..."

You can see something of this aesthetic reflected on the adaptiveminerals.com website and on the video. There's something of the style of photographer Sebastião Salgado in the vision here.

Asked about who worked with him on the album, he said: "A lot of people collaborated on this record, including Tepr Son Lux, Esser, Phazz, Sally Herbert and many more!!" 

I'm sure remixes and soundtrack opportunities are already being planned, but I can't help but be excited by this release itself and the prospect of more to come.