Following the recent release of two lovely sleeper singles, Iceland’s number one indie sad-boy Sin Fang is dropping a brand new video called “Sweet Bobby”, directed by Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir. And it’s a beauty. We are delighted to bring you the exclusive premiere right here today at noon!
As the track’s sweeping Enya-like synth chords fade in over a sun-bleached tropical view, so does the song’s title in a retro, pulpy script that should tip you off to the heart-wrenching love story about to unravel. But it’s the kind of love that leaves you empty, much like the lush yet scantily furnished mansion the video is set in.
In what feels like an aesthetic cross between Sofia Coppola and Wes Anderson’s early works, Sin Fang, real name Sindri Már Sigfússon, lolls around the gorgeous but somehow depressing palazzo, waiting for the telephone to ring. “I feel like I’ve been preparing my whole life for this role,” says Sindri. “I went full method in this one and put myself in the mindset of someone struggling in a senseless world.”
This senselessness relates closely to the song’s source of inspiration: a brilliant but devastating podcast by the same name, about someone in love with a catfisher. “Everytime I put it on I started singing to myself ‘sweeeeet bobbyyy’ so I just made it into a full song,” he explains why a podcast title is now a catchy hook stuck in our ears. The rest of the lyrics wrote themselves based on the crazy story told within the show.
The song is played and recorded entirely by Sindri, who recorded the piano and dulcatone parts at the LA studio of his friend Dustin O’Halloran, and the rest back in Reykjavík. It’s released by INNI Music and the video, shot in Spain, was directed by his partner Ingibjörg. “We looked all over Europe for a house that looked like a movie set from the 90s,” says Sindri. “The video is really about the meaningless, confusing and ridiculous plight of the human being.”
Embodying this intention, Sindri quietly seethes, rolls marbles on the floor and has disaffected panic attacks on antique furniture as the song’s lyrics appear in bold yellow lettering over the love-lorn images. The contrast of the nothingness happening with the desperation of the words encapsulates exactly what unrequited — or worse, imaginary — love looks like from the outside. While you’re seemingly just standing there, you’re screaming inside.
While the track is one of several singles Sindri has lined up for the summer, he’s not yet decided if they will end up on an album or as a series of standalones. Either way, we are very excited to know there’s more on the way.
Sweet Bobby shows up in the end, but what happens next is anyone’s guess.
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