The alliterative mysterious masked musician called Minimums (think Iron Man not Hannibal Lecter) has released another track from their forthcoming EP Bound. ‘Kopfkino‘ literally translates as ‘head cinema’ but means ‘cinema of the mind’, apt for a track that evokes the sense of an outer stillness which belies the drama unfolding in your own imagination. From their secret base Minimums has given Joyzine readers a chance to see the video to ‘Kopfkino’ first and also sent this encoded transmission from their digital fortress of solitude,
“The video blends inspiration from the haunting nature of the song with a visual language from early silent cinema. Grace’s character sits uncomfortably, lost in thought, watching herself back on a cinema screen before realising she’s trapped replaying the same moments over and again. I felt that the song is relatable to a lot of people so a video that is simple, loose and open to interpretation is a good fit. The setting lends itself to this black and white silent film type treatment, so I went with that in the edit.”
The video is a grey and white curio with visuals that match the stillness of the music and the performance from actor Grace Holley demonstrates how expressive you can be with just face and body language. It was filmed to coincide with her being over from LA and Director of Photography on the shoot in London’s Calder Bookshop and Theatre was Lottie Copland.
Icy keyboards swirl around string arrangements that have all the emotive clout of the best sci-fi drama scores such as The Expanse and the digital has been augmented by the analogue with the exceptional violin playing of Chloe Meade. The widescreen arrangement allows Pippa Sarratt’s vocals to shine through as brightly as a binary star. Her delivery has incredible clarity with a hint of grit at one end and celestial highs at the other.
The remix by Jess Brett adds a beat and some great 80s sounding synth lines. They don’t drown out the essence of the song and the rotating arpeggios flash like meteors around the binary star.
Musician’s log, supplemental: Minimums is also an accomplished remixer who has contributed a mix of ‘Tahoe’ for Cosmosapien‘s Cruz/Tahoe singles which also featuring a mix by Pulses who also mastered Minimums forthcoming EP.
Minimums has also contributed a track with David Gaffney to the compilation Sleeve Notes – New Writing & Music To Celebrate Record Store Day which I have also reviewed for Joyzine.
Minimums socials: Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Bluesky
Review by Paul F Cook
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