★★★☆☆
St. Vincent released a music video for her new single “The Melting of the Sun” in an animated style reminiscent of Schoolhouse Rock! and other retro cartoons. The nostalgic animation is fairly consistent throughout—featuring cartoonish drawings of characters, beach scenes, and illustrations alluding to drug use—with a few divergences from this format to show St. Vincent herself, singing and strumming her guitar in front of psychedelic backdrops. The video comes together into a kaleidoscope of trippy and colorful visuals.
This retro style isn’t unusual, but unlike many other artists, St. Vincent employs this format and style effectively. The strangest visual has to be that of St. Vincent’s actual face superimposed on top of a melting sun. Her face also reappears glistening in the light of a cigarette.
Aside from the various cartoon elements featuring St. Vincent, the image of a pill bottle being spilled in reverse is a distinct visual, but there are only hints of meaning behind it. But, that’s all that can really be said for any of the visuals featured in the music video. There are images hinting to car crashes and drug overdoses, such as the spilled pill bottle, scattered throughout the video.
These images, however, are spliced haphazardly together and seem random and disassociated, detailing only a fragmented story without leaving much of an impression. While the visuals grab the viewer’s attention and portray the style of the song, there is no cohesive component that brings together the music video’s plot.
Photo Courtesy of Loma Vista Recordings
