Berlin-based artist Curses has been captivating audiences with his romantic and punk-infused energy, blending 80’s New Wave, the darker side of Italo-Disco, flashes of EBM, and shockingly authentic Gothic Rock with his ghostly vocals and guitar, channeling the spirit of old-school bands like Suspiria and Play Dead.
Such was the case with his phenomenal vampiric video for “Miriam,” directed by Fashion photographer Jordan Hemingway. “Miriam” was inspired by the atmospheric, gothic vampire film The Hunger. That song and video were the most gothic thing to come out in 2022. No contest.
In our exclusive interview with Curses, he shared the inspiration behind the track “Miriam,” which was named after Catherine Deneuve’s character Miriam Blaylock in The Hunger: “The idea of Miriam being this immortal symbol of love contrasting with an edge of fragile existence and ability to destroy anyone against her path is intriguingly romantic to me.”
Now, Curses presents another audiovisual masterpiece from his second studio album, Incarnadine, with the enigmatic music video for “Boundless,” which captures the haunting atmosphere of the underground club scene, with nods to 1980s aesthetics and the decades’ dark cinematic influences.
The beauty of tragedy and elusive passion is a theme that Curses has skillfully woven into his work, drawing inspiration from The Hunger. With “Boundless,” directed by Nicolas Medy, this theme resonates again in a captivating way. The song is an intoxicating darkwave dancefloor number that features the entrancing banshee wail of Jennifer Touch.
As our protagonist confidently swaggers through the night, scenes unfold with an atmosphere that combines the distinctive aesthetics of films like Leos Carax’s Mauvais Sang and James Cameron’s The Terminator. This evocative mood transports viewers into a dreamlike reality leading to a scene reminiscent of the iconic Heaven nightclub scene in The Hunger, where Bauhaus performed “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” but reimagined with a unique fusion of noir 80s high-fashion darkwave.
Through the enchanting visuals of the “Boundless” video, Curses masterfully pays homage to these classic influences while crafting his own distinct and mesmerizing world that blurs the lines between dream and reality, past and present.
Below is how the director, translated from French, describes the video:
“Somewhere between 1981 and 2081, in the shadow of a dead city, a militia is looking for a man. The hunt leads them to an underground club: leather, the night, the dark wave.
At the start of Boundless there is The Hunger by Tony Scott. A film that inspired Curses to write the album Incarnadine (Miriam, the opening title, pays homage to her), one of the films that marked me the most.
From the covers of the British BDSM magazine Atomage, to sci-fi cinema, Boundless contains many of the themes that haunt me: the city, the architecture, and the club culture of the 1980s, real or imagined: from Steve Strange’s Blitz to the TechNoir of Terminator, passing through the shining nights of Cruising.”
Experience the haunting and mesmerizing visuals in the music video for Curses’ “Boundless” featuring Jennifer Touch below:
Incarnadine is out now.
In the “Miriam” music video from the album Incarnadine, directed and photographed by Jordan Hemingway, the moody theme of the song is perfectly captured. Submerged in a haunting blue, the video invites viewers into the shadowy world of Curses, featuring bandmates Luca Venezia and Dame Bonnet alongside the femme fatale, Jess Maybury. Her elegance and mystique, reminiscent of goth heroine Patricia Morrison, are accentuated as she clutches chains, a skull, and a rose. The video’s lighting, reminiscent of The Hunger and The Crow, pays homage to these goth movie classics while Hemingway’s interpretation adds a fresh perspective.
Curses’ album, Incarnadine, released on the Dischi Autunno label earlier this year, taps into the dramatic spirit that defined goth culture’s trajectory, particularly with the single “Miriam.” Inspired by Catherine Deneuve’s character in The Hunger, the song explores the pain of insatiable love, sacrifice, and the struggle with desire and mortality. Curses describes Miriam as “an immortal symbol of love contrasting with an edge of fragile existence and ability to destroy anyone against her path,” embodying the beauty of tragedy and elusive passion. In this captivating video, time slips away as bodies transform within Miriam’s lair, encapsulating the fleeting, yet beautiful nature of life.
Watch below:
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