The Lake, the Ocean

If you like the feeling of hard rain falling down, I can give you a whole lake, a whole ocean of it. Lykke Li breathes that line like she’s already decided the cost is worth it, and by the time the video ends I’m starting it over.

Anton Tammi directed the clip for Hard Rain, the latest in what’s become a sustained visual campaign from the Swedish singer. Where Deep End gave us poolside self-discovery and Utopia indulged fantasies of a better world, this one goes quieter—bodies close, warmth passed without words. Cuddling as testimony. It sounds cornier than it plays.

I shouldn’t run so far away that you can no longer see the fear in my face. I’m trying to bring us back together—didn’t think we’d ever be apart. That’s not a lyric so much as a confession, delivered with the flat affect of someone who’s stopped protecting themselves. It breaks something small every time I hear it.

I’ve posted every video she’s released on this journal lately, which I think speaks for itself. Most artists trot out one promo clip, hit the late-night circuit, and call it done. Lykke Li at 32 just keeps flooding the zone with images, each one denser than the last. I’m not going to pretend I’m objective about any of this.