Randall Dunn is a well-known and well-regarded producer who’s worked with artists as diverse as Sunn O))) and Cloud Nothings. He recently released a new album Beloved (which features artwork by Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley) last Friday, November 9. Today he shares a stunning video for one of the songs on that album, “A True Home,” which features vocals from the always-brilliant Zola Jesus.
The video from Turkish director Mu Tunç takes place in the sandy deserts of Arabian Peninsula country Oman. In the footage, which is accompanied by Zola Jesus’ hauntingly angelic vocals and a hypnotic electronic beat, Turkish actress Melisa Şenolsun emerges from the sand dunes in a crimson robe. As she makes her way to the place where the desert meets the shore, she begins to perform a strange ritual, carving an intricate pattern into the sand before dragging herself to a small lagoon.
“In this film, I wanted to take the viewer into a surreal journey where the whole story reflects the hallucinatory feeling of the song,” said Tunç. “The film is based on a reoccurring dream I had this past year of a woman walking through the desert in search of water. Longing reds and browns set against the deep sun. I conveyed this idea to Mu, who went deeply into the concept in a way beyond what I could have imagined,” said Dunn.
The songs lyrics are taken from a Zen death poem. It was written by Gesshu Soko, a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who lived in the 1600s.
“Breathing in, breathing out
Moving forward, moving back
Living, dying
Coming, going
Like two arrows meeting in flight,
In the midst of nothingness Is the road that goes directly to my true home.”
Beloved Track Listing
1. “Amphidromic Point”
2. “Lava Rock and Amber”
3. “Something About that Night” (feat. Frank Fisher)
4. “Theoria / Aleph”
5. “Mexico City”
6. “Virgo”
7. “A True Home” (feat. Zola Jesus)
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