What happens when you cram a group of musicians onto a narrow rock ledge, high above a yawning abyss, and ask them to perform a song together? Something between poetic chaos and beautifully orchestrated disaster.
The video for ‘Avalanches’ is Elis Floreen’s playful nod to Paul Simon’s ‘You Can Call Me Al’: deceptively simple, slightly absurd, unmistakably human and with a generous dose of humour. Shot at the dramatic Fondry des Chiens in Belgium, the production was a joyful DIY sprint: rehearsals at double speed, a one-man film crew, and catering courtesy of Elis’s mum. Fittingly, for a song about how “everything always goes wrong,” every twist ended up feeling like it belonged.
“I love bringing a lot of people together to play music,” Elis says. “It’s one of the best things about being a musician, I think.”
The result is a musical tableau vivant that feels both fragile and full of life. Watch it once and you’ll smile. Watch it ten times and you’ll start to notice the Easter eggs. It’s a bit like Where’s Waldo?: who can spot the sneezing cellist? Or the flower hidden in the saxophone?