Swedish Synthwave Artist Aux Animaux Unveils her video for “Stockholm Synthrome”

Swedish synth-wave artist Aux Animaux has unveiled the video for her song “Stockholm Synthrome”—the brooding and seductive title track from her recently released five-song EP, mixed by Alex Svensson from Then Comes Silence.

Here is some background on both the video, the song, and their concepts:

“Around the time a video was needed to be shot, Aux Animaux was sitting in quarantine at home with the rest of the world, so she decided to do a video by herself using an iPhone. During these days with Coronavirus and quarantine, it’s made her think a lot about the cycle of life and death, and our fragility as human beings. As someone who dealt with asthma since childhood, she has been extra nervous about the whole thing. There’s no lockdown in Sweden, although people are bound to stay mostly at home except for daily walks around the neighbourhood, so she decided to shoot the video in her local graveyard, which she believes to reflect these thoughts and feelings perfectly.

The song “Stockholm Synthrome” derives its inspiration from the actual Stockholm Syndrome. It is about how the politicians act according to their own will and how the majority of the public simply accepts this and keeps on voting for them, sort of continuing to be their hostage. This applies even to our current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic. In Sweden, politicians chose to follow a different path than most of the world by keeping all businesses and schools open, and public opinion was disregarded which caused a lot of frustration for a lot of people. It felt like the capitalistic system was valued more than the lives of fellow citizens.

Aux Animaux decided to shoot the video in red, the color that is associated with blood, and as it’s a color that reflects not only danger, but also passion, desire, and love… Binaries, in a way, that are found in life itself.

The album cover’s theme is also in red, which I personally associate with 70s and 80s horror films as well. The artist has also been playing with the themes of religion by inverting them in a way to point to their futility (albeit understanding people’s need for a concept to hold on to- especially in times like this), as well as playfully winking to horror movies again, which are one of her biggest nerderies in life. Thus the video has both political and personal connotations.”

Watch the video below:

Stockholm Synthrome by Aux Animaux is available now via Bandcamp. Listen and order the EP below: