Video Premiere: The Hudson Branch’s “All Is Fallen”

The Hudson Branch: Kina Ze Swah (self-released, 5/6/14)

Heartfelt quartet The Hudson Branch is well-versed in experimental productions, as shown by its previous collaborations with partners as varied as new-wave giants New Order to NPR’s Radiolab.

The two pairs of brothers have steadily been building a following in their native Chicago and beyond with a speculative sound that blends the earnestness of 1960s pop with the exploratory drive of 1980s electronica. We’re excited to debut the latest video from their new album, Kina Ze Swah, entitled “All Is Fallen.”

We’re smitten with the group’s choice to pair an emotional song about what member Matthew Boll describes as being about fighting on even after “the end of life” in an unexpected setting: the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Much of the video features lead singer Cobey Bienert interspersed with shots of the museum’s many taxidermied animals, all filtered through saturated, prismatic lightscapes. Stripped to his own skin like one of the animals, his own eyes mimic their primal drives.

The steadily shifting layers of sounds that mark the track translate into a haunting video with waves of eery and comforting imagery (with a bonus of some interpretative dancing in front of a giant Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton). Overall, it is a beautiful interpretation of the group’s talents.