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Tag: Aidan Zamiri

  • Love Is An Invisible String In Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” Video

    Love Is An Invisible String In Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” Video

    For someone who is often seen as an “anti-Taylor,” the motif presented in Billie Eilish’s latest visual offering from Hit Me Hard and Soft, “Birds of a Feather,” is all about something Swift dissects in “invisible string,” from her 2020 folklore album. That something being, more specifically, that everybody has “their person” that they’re inextricably bound to, whether they know it early on or not. And while Swift might have written “invisible string” with Joe Alwyn in mind, it doesn’t change the fact that, even after someone’s gone from your life, whether literally or metaphorically, their influence on and connection to you remains.

    To highlight this point, Eilish’s video for “Birds of a Feather” features her alone in a deserted office building setting (after all, this is the girl who loves The Office enough to have sampled extracts of dialogue from it for 2019’s “my strange addiction”) as an invisible presence pulls her in every direction. Like “Chihiro” (both the song and video), there is a haunting, otherworldly quality to the “narrative.” On that note, Eilish has undoubtedly been in a “way existential” mood for this record, with the video for “Chihiro” being more exemplary of that than, say, the ultra no-frills look of “Lunch”—though, to be fair, the technical aspects of that video are nothing to balk at.

    As is the case with “Birds of a Feather,” which might be ostensibly “simple” in terms of its concept, but was “intricate” enough for Eilish to concede to actually letting someone else direct her—which hasn’t happened since 2021’s “Lo Vas a Olvidar” with Rosalía…and that was ultimately because it wasn’t entirely Eilish’s song. Just as it wasn’t with the remix for Charli XCX’s “Guess.” In that scenario, the director who managed to break through Eilish’s trust issues in terms of giving creative control to someone else (which stemmed from some ideological clashes while making 2019’s “when the party’s over”) was Aidan Zamiri, who Eilish had no choice but to work with on the “Guess” video, since Charli XCX was running the show on that one (side note: Zamiri also directed XCX’s “360”).

    Zamiri apparently did such a good job that Eilish tapped him for “Birds of a Feather,” yet another very physical video (since, like Madonna, Eilish believes you need to suffer for your art). A physicality that begins at the twenty-four-second mark, when her arm is pulled violently upward, almost as if to match her own form of violent love, the kind elucidated in the opening verse, “I want you to stay/‘Til I’m in the grave/‘Til I rot away, dead and buried/‘Til I’m in the casket you carry/If you go, I’m goin’ too, uh/‘Cause it was always you/And if I’m turnin’ blue, please don’t save me/Nothin’ left to lose without my baby.”

    The intensity of those words is summed up by Eilish (during an AmEx segment called “Story of My Song”) saying that she wanted the first verse to feel “a little toxic” and “lovebomb-y.” And yet, if one can get through the so-called lovebombing phase of the honeymoon period and realize that such passion can still not only endure, but also give way to a deeper kind of love the more that time goes by, then perhaps they really are birds of a feather with this other person. Even in the wake of their death. So connected by this “invisible string,” as it were, that they can still reach the object of their affection from beyond the grave.

    As the ghostly presence in the office building keeps making itself more known to Eilish, a breeze whips her hair before her arm is grabbed even more severely and the chair she’s sitting on raises itself so that it’s only standing on two legs. Zamiri then furnishes viewers with an overhead POV shot of Eilish, almost as though we’re meant to experience what her spectral lover is as they whip her around in a circular motion on the chair.

    After the ghost from beyond seemingly gets bored with treating Eilish’s body like a ragdoll in this particular setting, it drags her, still in the chair, across the room, at which time the force of the movement becomes so strong that she falls out of the chair and slams right through the wall and into the next room while (totally unfazed) singing, “I’ll love you ‘til the day that I die.” In the new part of the office setting, Eilish’s hand is still extended as though she’s holding onto someone else’s. This before falling to the ground in a pile of glass shards, at which time her own eyeglasses shatter. Clearly, this is a savagely passionate love.

    But that doesn’t stop Eilish from picking herself up off the ground and ending up in another part of the office. In fact, this whole office theme is enough to make one believe that Eilish is secretly talking about the toxic relationship between employee and employer, with the latter having a forever hold on the former. Which is definitely one possibility considering that Eilish herself has said, “With music, my whole thing is that it’s for the listener to decide what it means. And it doesn’t matter what I wrote it about, what Finneas wrote it about, it really doesn’t matter as long as you interpret it however you need to.” This includes “Birds of a Feather” as an “ode” to corporate slavery dynamics within the context of the video.

    As Eilish delves into the second verse, one is also reminded of Ariana Grande’s “pov,” during which she sings, “I wanna love me/The way that you love me/Ooh, for all of my pretty/And all of my ugly too/I’d love to see me from your point of view.” In Eilish’s version of that sentiment—the one about how the people who love us see us in a far better light than we see ourselves—it goes, “I want you to see, hm/How you look to me, hm/You wouldn’t believe if I told ya/You would keep the compliments I throw ya.”

    In another moment that gives Ghost a run for its money, Eilish is positioned in one of the rooms filled with fluorescent light (as all offices are) while the darkened room next to it, presented almost like part of a split screen, seems to accent the divide between life and death. That those we’ve lost are not ever really gone, but simply in another dimension. One that only the greatest of loves can ever truly transcend. Just ask Orpheus. Or Beetlejuice. Toxic or not, their love for the person they obsessed over was strong enough to traverse the realm that divides the living and the dead.

    Genna Rivieccio

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  • A Panty-Dropping, Project X Affair: Charli XCX and Billie Eilish’s “Guess” Video

    A Panty-Dropping, Project X Affair: Charli XCX and Billie Eilish’s “Guess” Video

    When Charli first, er, teased the album artwork for the “Guess” remix featuring Billie Eilish, she dared her fans to, that’s right, guess who it was joining her on the cover for this revamped edition. Despite the retroactive dead giveaway that it was Billie Eilish (you know, the butch, 90s boy aesthetic), perhaps no one, in their wildest fantasies, could have imagined that such an iconic collaboration would come on the heels of Charli working with Lorde on the “Girl, so confusing” remix. And, like Lorde, Eilish has plenty to offer when it comes to contributing a new verse to this track. One that is on-brand for the sex-drenched nature of the song.

    Funnily enough, it seems to have taken a millennial to help Gen Z remember that life doesn’t have to be sexless. It can be raunchy, promiscuous and, yes, even panty-dropping. In short, it can recapture all the key visuals of Project X. And if Charli and Billie comprised the collaboration people had only dreamed about, it would be in keeping with the premise of that movie, with its tagline: “The party you’ve only dreamed about.” This is the effect Charli is going for in the Aidan Zamiri-directed video for “Guess,” which also seems to recreate the garbage-filled aesthetic of the Atacama Desert in Chile, where fast fashion goes to die, creating massive piles within the landfill. It’s a similar pile that Charli and Billie mount toward the middle of the video, only to roll back down it with glee as they meet one another at the bottom in a shot that positions them lying side by side as though they just banged (metaphorically, they kind of have).

    To that end, perhaps Charli has learned her lesson (somewhat) about promoting environment-destroying behavior (hear: any of her songs that serve as love letters to driving) by including a disclaimer at the end of the video that reads, “All unworn garments will be donated to survivors of domestic violence through I Support the Girls.” Of course, all the “garments” in question are lingerie-related, which is a bit of an odd donation to make to victims of domestic abuse, but anyway…

    Zamiri, who also photographed Eilish for her Rolling Stone cover earlier this year, opens the video on a close-up of Charli’s sunglasses-covered face (the ultimate symbol of her Brat era) as she asks, “Billie, you there?” The answer to that question is: not just yet. Billie’s big entrance will be made once the party is already well underway. A party that takes place in a more 90s-ified version of the apartment style Charli showed us in the “Baby” video. After the close-up on her face, she introduces herself by cuntily walking across the trash-filled carpet. The timeline of whether the party already happened or is about to happen or she’s simply having another one without cleaning up from the night before isn’t important. What is, however, is the fact that Project X has so obviously remained a tried-and-true inspiration for XCX’s work. It was back in 2020 that she declared, “I think I’ve officially decided that Project X is my favorite movie of all time.” No matter how retrospectively uncomfortable the R. Kelly mention gets. And while others might see the 2012 high school comedy as “nothing special,” it makes sense that XCX would continue to idealize it. After all, she’s a big believer in party alchemy. The “power of the party,” as it were.

    Case in point, back in 2019, when she did an interview for Nowness, Charli said, “I’m very inspired by parties. Lots of emotional things happen at parties, like, maybe you fall in love with someone, or you, like, spend a really amazing night with your friends, or you break up with someone. It’s, like, there’s a lot of emotions that go on at parties…” Hence, her attachment to them as more than something that’s merely “frivolous.” It’s a microcosm, a hotbed of unmitigated feelings (mainly thanks to las drogas). And the primary ones at this “Guess” party are, in two words, “let’s fuck.” The writhing, gyrating and general “every guy, grab a girl” vibe is practically a constant of the narrative.

    In promoting this concept, Charli also proves that, theoretically, the “clean girl aesthetic” is over and that, accordingly, it’s “safe” to promote the messy lifestyle that goes hand in hand with drinking and drugging yet again (not that Charli ever really ceased doing that). Hence, the constant flash to partygoers smoking (actual cigarettes, none of this vape bullshit) and drinking throughout “Guess.”

    Indeed, it can be argued that the last time partying in this manner was so acceptable was, in fact, back in 2012, when Project X was released. It was also the year of Kesha’s sophomore album, Warrior, which continued the “grimy girl” motif of her debut, Animal. Her vehement “party or die” (or “party and die,” depending on the person) mantra endured with a song like “Die Young,” during which Kesha declared, “Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young/Young hearts, out our minds/Runnin’ till we outta time/Wild childs, lookin’ good/Livin’ hard just like we should/Don’t care who’s watching when we tearing it up (you know)/That magic that we got nobody can touch.” This is the sentiment that permeates the “Guess” video, even if the lyrics themselves are far less wholesome, and much more in keeping with the gratuitously salacious tone of Charli’s other film favorite, Spring Breakers (though Camila Cabello tried her best to co-opt that “mood board” for C,XOXO).

    This includes Eilish’s sexually-charged verse, “Don’t have to guess the color of your underwear/Already know what you’ve got goin’ on down there/It’s that lacy black pair with the little bows/The ones I picked out for you in Tokyo/I saw them when you sat down, they were peekin’ out/I’m gonna tell you right now, they’re all I’m thinkin’ about.” She delivers these lines after literally crashing the party in a bulldozer (it kind of reminds one of the way the party in Weird Science was crashed by the mutant bikers, riding right through the walls/glass doors to get in).

    Charli eventually leaves the party with Billie (perhaps taking the latter up on her offer, “Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it/Charli, call me if you’re with it”), riding on the side of the bulldozer/tractor as she bounces in a similar way to how she did in the video for “360” while pouring a glass of wine. Zamiri then rapidly intercuts scenes between the original party and the two-woman rager that Charli and Billie have continued together outside in the “wilds” of a concrete jungle somewhere in L.A. (for both singers favor that city, like anyone with consummate taste).

    To conclude the even more sexed-up remix, the duo goads, “You wanna guess the address of the party we’re at (you really are not invited)/You wanna guess if we’re serious about this song.” That last line smacks of Justin Timberlake assuring at the end of “Rock Your Body,” “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” And sure, while he might be permanently “cancelled,” there’s no denying XCX was influenced by NSYNC, de facto Timberlake, at some point in the late 90s/early 00s.

    As for boasting about the “hoi polloi” not being invited to the party, not only is it typical Brat behavior, it’s also in keeping with the necessary exclusivity of celebrities like XCX and Eilish, who have both dealt with their fair share of creepy civilian behavior. So one supposes that’s why the party of Project X was patently more epic in scope and aftermath—it didn’t discriminate about the guest list.

    Genna Rivieccio

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  • An Ode to It Girls and Sociopathy: Charli XCX’s “360”

    An Ode to It Girls and Sociopathy: Charli XCX’s “360”

    In Madonna’s seminal 1990 hit, “Vogue,” she talks about how Rita Hayworth “gave good face.” That’s at least eighty percent of the “job” description of being an it girl (or “internet girl,” the apparent updated version of that term). The other twenty percent seems to be a mixture of wearing over-the-top couture and being photographed at all the right parties. As a self-appointed party girl/internet obsession, Charli XCX knows all about combining the analog and digital elements of what it means to be “it.” And she pays homage to that at the beginning of her latest video, “360” (yet another single that will appear on Brat).

    Directed by ​​Aidan Zamiri, the scene opens on Charli walking down a hallway as she texts back and forth with fellow it girl Gabbriette, who chastises her for being (five hours) late to a place called Skyferrori’s (is that supposed to be a Sky Ferreira reference?) Trattoria. Traipsing into the restaurant, she’s met with the eyes of Rachel Sennott (who technically “collaborated” with Charli on Bottoms) and Chloe Cherry. It’s Rachel who tells her she can’t sing her song just yet, with Gabriette further explaining, “We have to fulfill the prophecy of finding a new, hot internet girl. That’s literally why we’re at dinner.” A little expository, but sure. Chloe Cherry then adds, “Or else our kind will cease to exist…forever.” Annoyed, Charli tries to speed up the process by suggesting, “What about…her?” as she points to the girl at the end of the table—who happens to be Julia Fox. Obviously, that’s a no go as it girls who are already it girls can’t be chosen. Charli then lands on the waitress (if that word is still permissible) and the others at the table aren’t opposed to it. 

    “What do you guys need me to do?” she asks gamely, even if nervously. Fox explains, “See, you actually need to have this, like, je ne sais quoi.” Charli affirms, “Yeah it’s, like, definitely a je ne sais quoi kind of situation.” In other words, no one wants to admit that it’s pure luck and, often, a little bit of nepo baby clout (as Paris Hilton knows from her late 90s/early 00s it girl days). Or, as Gabbriette describes it, “I would say it’s about being really hot in, like, a scary way.” Fox approves vehemently of that definition. With that “sorted,” Charli declares, “I’m gonna do my song now.” So it is that the A. G. Cook-produced notes begin and Charli delivers the manifesto, “I went my own way and I made it/I’m your favorite reference, baby/Call me Gabbriette, you’re so inspired/Ah, ah I’m tectonic, moves, I make ’em/Shock you like defibrillators/No style, I can’t relate.” Just as Sabrina Carpenter can’t relate to “desperation.” She, too, is something of an it girl at this moment, and her song, “espresso,” exudes the same kind of sociopathy that Charli and co. champion in “360.” Complete with the first proper visual from it outside of the “holding court” restaurant setting being Charli atop an elderly man on a gurney in a hospital. 

    Mounting him with her legs spread apart so that his midsection is between her thighs, other it girls soon gather around her (with Gabbriette blowing cigarette smoke right in his face) in between scenes of Charli in the gym jiggling about with a glass of red wine in hand as Sennott and Fox stand on either side of her (the former texting on her phone and the latter vaping while disinterestedly lifting a dumbbell). 

    In another cut back to the restaurant setting, Charli struts toward the table and gets on top of it so she can walk it like a runway. When she runs out of table, the waiters in the restaurant quickly scramble to provide her with more (a maneuver that smacks of this particular 1990 performance) so that she never has to worry about falling or looking foolish for not being able to continue her strut. Not that she ever would worry—because worry is a sentiment that is entirely out of the it girl’s vocabulary. She knows everything she wants will fall right into her lap not just because she’s “hot,” but because it always has before. For anything else to occur would signal some kind of cataclysm in the universe…at least in the it girl’s internet-speak-fueled mind. And when Charli wants to keep walking once the room itself ends, a waiter knocks out the wall for her so that she can. It’s just, like, the rules of what “little people” are expected to do for beautiful and rich ones. 

    The knocked-out wall leads into a room where an ordinary family sits on the couch as the likes of Richie Shazam (in a cone bra corset) and Chloe Cherry pose in the background while Charli keeps singing her song, declaring, “That city sewer slut’s the vibe/Internationally recognized/I set the tone, it’s my design/And it’s stuck in your mind/Legacy is undebated/You gon’ jump if A. G. made it/If you love it, if you hate it/I don’t fucking care what you think.” Ah, that old chestnut that only sounds authentic when Joan Jett says it via the chorus, “I don’t give a damn ‘bout my bad reputation.” 

    Charli continues to cement her own “bad reputation” as she stands before a pair of crashed cars (she is, after all, the creator of an album called Crash) in the middle of an L.A. street where who should eventually appear but none other than L.A.’s number one hater, Chloe Sevigny. A woman that some might call the original it girl if they’re not aware of Edie Sedgwick’s existence before hers (and yes, it’s almost surprising that Edie wasn’t AI-generated at some point within the context of this video—but maybe Charli decided to limit her poor taste to gyrating atop a hospitalized old man). 

    Charli and Chloe then strut down the road together as a random dumpster on fire shows up in the background. Joining their fellow it girls up ahead, the nine women stand together and throw various poses for a nonexistent camera as the fire keeps raging behind them. Perhaps an ultimate metaphor for the fact that, no matter what kind of chaos or tragedy is happening in the world, you can always count on an it girl’s vanity to totally ignore or disregard it. What’s eternally most important is how fierce she looks.

    Genna Rivieccio

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