Christine and the Queens shared a new video for their song “Comme Si.” This is the latest single taken from her critically acclaimed second album, Chris, which came up on almost every critic’s best of 2018 list. Directed by David Wilson, who’s worked with Arctic Moneys, Tame Impala and Arcade Fire, the video sees Chris use the expressive and exaggerated street dance style of Krump to overturn the tale of the doomed Ophelia.
The video, shot in Thailand, comes at an exciting time for Chris as she is returning to Coachella 2019 for her highly anticipated performance. The nighttime performance will be available to everyone via a YouTube livestream. Just last December, Coachella came to Chris on the eve of her two sold out performances in the 18,000 capacity Parisian venue AcorHotels arena in order to create a Coachella Curated documentary.
Chris says about her inspiration for the video:
“For me, the whole idea of the video is to twist the terrible ending of Ophelia, as a myth, an idea. In Hamlet, Ophelia is, of course, the unlucky lover, the rejected one; but her madness and the suicide that ensues is also symptomatic of a whole era: the young girl, unwanted, unloved, simply cannot live. She’s doomed, she disappears, she melts with nature. Insanity is also really interesting in this play, for it is the sign of a mind deranged by rejection, as if she couldn’t remain in the world after being unwanted by Hamlet. Looking at Millais’ painting, and thinking of “Comme si” as this erotic reverie of subverting rejection with self-empowerment, I started to dream of giving that myth a welcomed, witty twist. Let’s undo that tragic ending; let’s cheat death, if you will.”
In addition to her exciting Coachella performance this weekend, Christine and the Queens announced her Jimmy Kimmel Live debut performance on Tuesday April 16. She will also be opening for Florence + The Machine and playing several summer festivals like Boston Calling and Primavera.