With years of pure determination comes a work of art that can only be described simply as the most stunning music video that has been released in ages. Only one, Kid Kasio can take a vintage technique using rotoscope animation and give a story visual life.
In the hand drawn, two year effort, that is the video for ‘The Kodo Song,’ the second single off Kid Kasio’s second studio album due out this November; tells the story of two friends called up to fight in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. When one sees the video for the first time you are quickly drawn to its sketchy feel which draws similarity to A-Ha’s classic ‘Take On Me.’
Not in my twenty some odd years of life have I seen a video so eye catching. With the story of the war, it has brought British history to the eyes of the world public. The synth-maestro that we’ve all come to know and love brings pure emotion to the song by adding little notes that immerse you deeper into the storyline. Kid Kasio states “The nonsensical chorus is the mantra the pair would chant on the battlefield. One of the friends dies in battle and his companion is left with the song as a reminder of their friendship, long after his death. I guess it’s all about the intensity of friendship and the power of music and its longevity.”
Music always has that kind of power to remind you of the good times and the bad. The video tends to rip at the heart just a little more knowing the story surrounding the chorus. For such an upbeat sounding song, the video has this emotional strain as you can see one of the friends getting shot whilst the other had to move on.
With its very eye catching imagery, there was a chance that ‘The Kodo Song’ may not have ever been fully completed… *gasps all around*
Kasio: “Unfortunately I had little understanding of how time consuming the process would be. I began animating in October 2013. At one point I was getting up at 6am and drawing continuously until 2am in the morning. I’d get to the end of a day like that and watch back what I’d done, and there would be only 2 seconds of animation to show for it, it was utterly soul destroying, doing this day after day, month after month”.
We may never know why Kid Kasio decided to go such a difficult route. Maybe the difficult creation enhanced the difficult story to be told? What we do know is that if this is only the first chapter of the story, the next chapter is bound to be just as exciting.
I guess we’ll have to wait until November to see.