"Rest My Chemistry" video

Aaron Koblin and Blip Boutique’s unofficial (but endorsed) video for “Rest My Chemistry”:



The company’s idea behind the video (as taken from Stereogum's article):

The story we wanted to tell came from the idea of body chemistry, as the song addresses sort of what one does to ones body and stepping away from that for a spell. So since we knew we wanted to do something with mapping data, we started thinking about body systems, and how we could expound on the idea of systems from the smallest to the largest scales. Therefore we decided to have the imagery reflect systems of particles within cells to cellular growth and multiplication to overall body systems, to city grids, to global mapping to solar systems, and back down again.

- This song has been a favorite of mine since first listening to Our Love to Admire; I find the rhythms, in particular the heavy tom hits, extremely compelling. Another facet of the song that has always struck me is the upwards moving string-synth line that repeats throughout the Coda, which starts around 3:54. I hear something of ecstasy in this repeating line, and as it follows lyrics about a young “daisy,” I imagine it as the ecstasy that the protagonist experiences when s/he sees that person.

- I was pleasantly surprised to find that watching this video and reading the concept behind it jived with my hearing. The generative theme that motivates the first half of the video (cells dividing, creating larger and larger structures) lines up in my mind with the creative “urge” I link to the upwards string line and the protagonist and “daisy” relationship.

- Another intuitive move I find in the video is the fact that it goes from small to big back to small again, which I link to the fade-in and fade-out of the song, a technique that Interpol do not often use. Also, I’ve often found Kessler’s repeating guitar melodies (such as the one heard in this song) as “cellular”: tight, compact and repeating identically. On a larger scale, my analysis of the song goes like so:

0:00-0:25 fade-in sans drums
0:25-0:54 rhythmic groove enters strongly, abruptly
0:54-1:19 groove continues, solo repeating guitar line enters
1:19-1:38/1:51 verse 1 + chorus
1:52-2:04 groove + repeating guitar line returns
2:04-2:23/2:36 verse 2 + chorus
2:37-2:49 “so young,” groove interrupted
2:49-3:02 upwards guitar line (foreshadowing of Coda)
3:02-3:20/3:34 verse 3 + chorus
3:34-3:54 “so young” extended, taken over by Coda
3:54-5:01 Coda, groove + repeating guitar line + upwards strings + chorus, fade out

- It doesn’t surprise me that Interpol endorsed this video. I certainly see and hear intuitive links between the visual and the audio.

Next up: a question from a fan regarding a link between Kessler’s guitar technique and classical music!

Until then,
Much love from,
Meg