Legendary French singer, producer and video director Woodkid recently wrapped his S16 tour (supporting his 2020 album of the same name) which spanned two years, covered 19 countries and counts over 200,000 total fans in attendance. To celebrate his homecoming and to thank his passionate fans, Woodkid is releasing a jaw-dropping music video for his song “Reactor,” which was originally released on S16. The video is a collaboration with visual artist Saad Moosajee, who directed and conceptualized the piece. It took two years to create and includes the use of Unreal Engine, live choreography recorded with motion capture technology, and a boatload of other cutting-edge techniques giving the video the feel of a big-screen blockbuster. It also carries with it layers of meaning and symbolism, taking a hypnotizing look at the collision course between humanity and technology, while focusing on themes of creation and destruction within this futuristic setting.
Woodkid explains further: “Reactor is a song I wrote for the Suginami Junior Chorus (Japan), we recorded the piece in 2020 in Tokyo. It is an homage to repetitionist and minimalist music and an homage to the Japanese anime that was part of my culture when I was younger. I got in contact with Saad 2 years ago when S16 came out and I was already a big fan of his work. We share the same passion for animation and motion design, and for dance. When he asked me to do a video for one of the songs of the record, I immediately accepted and gave him the time to produce this beautiful film that gives a new dimension to the song. It’s a perfect gift to the fans for the 2 years of S16.”
Saad adds: “This song was inspired by the films made in the golden age of 90’s Japanese Animation – Akira and Ghost in The Shell. They are two groundbreaking movies made possible by a huge commitment of labor and time from many individuals. I feel that more and more it is becoming increasingly difficult to take the time to make videos as thoroughly as this.”
In his incredibly diverse career, Woodkid has sold almost one million albums, has been nominated for 3 Grammy awards, and has directed music videos for some of the biggest artists on the planet – Katy Perry (“Teenage Dream”), Taylor Swift (“Back To December”), Lana Del Rey (“Born To Die”) and Harry Styles (“Sign of the Times”). Most recently, his 2012 indie hit “Run Boy Run” became part of a viral TikTok trend, and now has over 200 million Spotify streams to show for it. He also contributed a song to the soundtrack for Netflix’s 2021 hit ARCANE – an animated show spawned from the League Of Legends universe – which recently became Netflix’s highest rated show of all-time based on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes data. You can watch the video below:
