Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Release Music Video for "Salamander in Two Worlds"

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum has released a music video for their track “Salamander In Two Worlds”. The song comes from the band’s recently released fourth studio album, of the Last Human Being. The video, directed by Gooby Herms, stated the following in a press release for the music video:

Inspiration was found “…In the depths of woods in upstate New York, where the frogs sing their last chorus of the season and whispers of the falling leaves provide the harmony. Amidst this tranquil solitude, we delved into themes of loss and isolation. And dance."

"While coming up with the idea, we sat on the floor and just played the song over and over. And all I could see was the dance. This song was a dance. But I couldn’t avoid the despair I felt throughout. The song filled me with a sense of loss, it just felt so alone. My challenge was to then visually capture that.

The protagonist, enveloped by the wilderness, explores the essence of solitude through the haunting melody provided by the song. As the visuals unfold, there is a story being told through color that echoes the stages of grief, which peaks with a violent red turmoil. The figure becomes seemingly larger than nature, accompanied by phantoms who’s company dissipates as quickly as it came, and they find themselves being suffocated by a world that becomes increasingly darker and darker. It’s not a happy ending to me, we simply continue to persist.

The visuals draw a lot of inspiration from artists ranging from Eyvind Earle and Kay Nielsen all the way to Andy Kehoe, as well the work of Hayao Miyazaki, Lotte Rieniger, and the Russian storybook animated films of the 50’s, such as the Fisherman and the Fish. The backgrounds were all hand painted, and the dance was provided by the limitlessly talented, Shinichi Iova-Koga. But of course, it all came from the music of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum."

You can view the music video in its entirety below. The band is currently on the road, and a Bay Area date is slated for Berkeley’s UC Theatre on April 6th with Faun Fables, Cassette Prophet, Surplus 1980, and Kitka.