Video Premiere: Irish-Japanese Electro-Pop Duo KiiKO Release Vivid ‘July’ Music Video
Video Premiere: Irish-Japanese Electro-Pop Duo KiiKO Release Vivid ‘July’ Music Video
Words: Rachel Hannon
Directed and edited by James Baldwin, with director of Photography Ste Flynn, Irish-Japanese electronic pop duo KiiKO release the video for their single ‘July’ tomorrow. Exclusive premiere right here on District Music.
The video marks the Japanese Star Festival Tanabata. This takes place on July 7 every year, which is when the track itself was released last year. The festival commemorates the annual reunion of two celestial lovers, the weaver princess Orihime (Vega) and the cowherd Hikoboshi (Altair), who are separated by the Milky Way. To celebrate, people write their hopes, dreams, and wishes on colorful, small strips of paper called tanzaku.
KiiKO’s music video for ‘July’ is a playful mosaic of performance, close-ups and saturated summer colour, returning that feeling of wish-making, new beginnings and belief in something just out of reach.
Shot in a grassy open space under a bright summer sky, the video places KiiKO in a vivid landscape of saturated greens, blues and whites. The flowing feeling of the grass, the ocean, and the performers themselves, is juxtaposed with separated grids throughout the visual.
“In Japan, there’s a tradition called Tanabata, where on July 7 people make wishes to the sky. It’s about hoping for the reunion of Orihime and Hikoboshi, who can only meet once a year. This song is about the nervousness of starting something new but still believing in yourself, and sending those feelings out to Tanabata,” says band member Emmy.
‘July’ features on KiiKO’s debut album, out this autumn. Pre-orders are live now.
The video for ‘July’ is officially out tomorrow, but we have the world exclusive premiere here at District Music. Check it out below.
