Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have released a new music video for the track “Make Worry For Me” in a collaboration with iconic artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe. The clip was directed by Freeman and Lowe and filmed at their famed architectonic sculpture, A Cell in The Smile.
According to a press release, Freeman and Lowe are “renowned for immersive architectural exhibits that explore a subverted dystopian reality.” The A Cell in The Smile piece is a 5,000-square foot bunker located 27 feet below ground in an undisclosed area outside of Cleveland, Ohio. The bunker includes a subterranean complex that is home to a natural history museum, a lab for neuro-biological communication technology, a cold war think tank, a capsule hotel, a mosaic lounge dedicated to theoretical architecture and a movie theater.
The video for “Make Worry For Me” follows Sweeney and Billy passing time in the confined spaces of the bunker while fantastical imagery is interspersed throughout. The feeling and mood created from the directors certainly complement the track’s eerie and fragile mood before the entire scene comes to a rollicking finish. In the end, our two stars are back right where they started in the middle of a mysterious forrest (presumably outside of Cleveland).
Discussing the filming process, Billy revealed that he and Sweeney spent 18 months in the underground bunker. “The 18 months we spent in Freeman and Lowe’s bunker felt like 18 years. It feels great to be out and to be able to share some of what we did during our internment,” explains Billy. “The first few drafts of the song and its accompanying visualization were full of anger and fear. Finally we got around to owning it, and like good Stockhausen Syndrome sufferers, we now love Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe and everything they do.” The “Make Worry For Me” track was written by Sweeney and Will Oldham and features drumming from Pete Townsend and Mike Rojas.