Electronic artist Clark released his most recent album, Sus Dog, this past Friday, May 26th. According to Stereogum, this album was additionally executive produced by Thom Yorke, who also collaborated by playing bass throughout the album and providing vocals for the song “Medicine.” Listen to “Medicine,” a song from the new album Sus Dog, below.
The song is slow and melancholy, and the accompanying video uses dark and trippy visuals. On the collaboration, Yorke said, “Chris wrote me to say he’d started singing, looking for feedback/advice or whatever, cuz it was kind of new shark-infested waters for him. I’ve been into what he does for years, and I ended up being a kind of backseat driver as he pieced all the oddness of it together, which was fascinating. I wasn’t surprised to discover he came at singing and words through another door completely, which to me was the most interesting and exciting part,” Yorke continues. “The first thing he sent me was him singing about being stuck between two floors and I was already sold. To me the way he approached it all wasn’t the usual singer songwriter guff thank god; it mirrored the way he approached all his composition and recording, but this time it had a human face. His face.”
On the visuals for the music video, Dylan Hayes, who directed the video, said, “Chris and I have always bonded over a common endeavour to conceal the digital. This is interesting considering we’re using a very digital medium as an element for “Medicine” — deepfake. I was intrigued in using AI in a way that remained subtle. Typically, when deepfake or another AI element is employed, it is the main focus whereas for “Medicine” I wanted to bury the effect and layer it with additional textures, making it just one of the many components. Through the use of the technology Chris and Thom’s characteristics merge, which creates an uncanny synergy of both their faces and voices, causing a question of who’s who and a theme of the malleability of their voices.”