Alexis Taylor & Mike Simonetti share video for "I See A Darkness" cover

Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and producer Mike Simonetti — founder of Troubleman Unlimited and Italians Do It Better, and one-half of Pale Blue — today have shared their transcendent cover of Bonnie “Prince” B

illy’s “I See A Darkness,” taken from their forthcoming collaborative EP, due Friday 12th June via Smugglers Way. 

The accompanying video, directed by Ben Crook and conceptualized and “written for the stage” by Taylor and Crook, stars Taylor and German actor David Bredin, with supporting features from English musician Jarvis Cocker and Sian Ahern. The emotional visual follows two men — Taylor and Bredin — as they slowly reconnect over a drink in a dimly lit room, quietly pleading for compromise and understanding.

Reflecting on the video, Taylor says:

"Sat in the dark in a hotel room on my own on tour, and after 3 aborted attempts to work with different film makers to get something made for 'I See A Darkness,' I came up with a very simple idea myself, to accompany the music and to try to get to the emotion and the narrative at the core of Will Oldham’s beautiful song. I saw the room that we see in the film — the scene, the two men facing each other and getting closer in their armchairs as the intensity of what they sing to each other increases. I saw the lady at the centre and back of the same space, illuminated by lamp light for the choruses, and the red balloon hovering over the 4 people in the scene. I wanted this to be like a televised Samuel Beckett play, and to be surreal, simple, and emotionally direct. Ben Crook helped me massively, understanding my vision, directing beautifully and bringing the whole thing to life.

I cast David Bredin after meeting him in Rostock, Germany, and believing he would be right for the role. I’m glad I trusted my gut. He delivers an incredibly moving performance and somehow exceeded my expectations of what we could achieve emotionally in this short film. He clearly feels what he is conveying through the lyrics and you can’t miss that.

Jarvis Cocker and Sian Ahern are both composed and brilliant in their supporting roles, and they were there to represent Mike Simonetti and Elizabeth Wight’s musical roles in the track.

Bonnie himself is there in spirit, all ‘busted up’, to quote another of his songs; the sculpture was made as a surprise for me, by Ben.

It was a joy to conceive this and to work on it with Ben Crook and the whole team on the day. The best experience I have had on a video shoot. I hope people connect with it!"

Director Ben Crook adds:

“Alexis called me one winter day last year and asked if I could help turn an idea of his into a music video. He had a very clear vision: two people sat opposite one another in dialogue, emerging from darkness, their chairs slowly moving towards one another. The simplicity and purity of the concept immediately intrigued me.

[“I See A Darkness”] has always felt like an internal dialogue — a drunk man convincing himself he can change his ways, a conversation between opposing perspectives, an alcoholic ‘Waiting For Godot.’ I knew instantly this film should feel like a 1970s BBC TV; it needed to be authentically theatrical, and definitely not a performance music video. Accordingly, we shot on a vintage valve video from that era and also on 16mm film. To keep it as authentic as possible, I took the lyrics and wrote a script — the songs broken into scenes and lines of dialogue so that Alexis and our incredible actor David Bredin knew their lines and actions in advance.

Alexis met David while on tour, and casting him as the friend in the darkness was perfection. We also felt that it was important to have the presence of Elizabeth [Wight] and Mike [Simonetti] in the film. With an ocean separating us, Sian Ahern and Jarvis Cocker stepped in to portray them instead.”

This team-up is years in the making, dating back to Taylor and Simonetti’s fateful first meeting while the latter was spinning a set at the now-defunct Williamsburg club Output: “I was really excited about the re-edits he was playing that night,” Taylor recalls, explaining that diving deeper into Simonetti’s work with Elizabeth Wight as Pale Blue further captured his attention. For Simonetti, the partnership was equally organic: “[Alexis has] always been one of my favorite vocalists.”

When Taylor and Simonetti first began exchanging demos with the idea of collaborating, Taylor eventually shared an early sketch of what would become “I See A Darkness.” “I told him I had a house version of the song in my head and that I thought he’d be good at helping me make that,” Taylor says. Simonetti, however, envisioned something sonically different — a creative tension that ultimately helped shape the track’s transportive final form. “Dance music isn’t in the best place it’s ever been, and I grew up on rock music,” Simonetti explains. “But when Alexis sent me his take on it, it just sounded cool, so we went from there.”

Featuring backing vocals from Pale Blue’s Elizabeth Wight, the song ultimately became a seamless fusion of both artists’ instincts. “I really like that he looped certain parts of mine and Elizabeth’s singing and treated it like dance music in a very classic way,” Taylor says, adding that he’s already been playing the track in his DJ sets. “There’s a depth to that song where you can sing it in a club space, and people really connect with it. Will Oldham is probably my favorite songwriter who’s still alive. I’ve been obsessed with his music since I was about to leave school. [“I See A Darkness”] is a foundational song for me.”

“I See A Darkness” follows the release of the duo’s luminous original, “Perfect Kiss,” which Stereogum described as “simply lovely.” Named one of Under The Radar’s Best Songs of the Week, the track explores themes of identity, alienation, and transformation. It arrived alongside a Super-8 shot video filmed in Los Angeles and London featuring Taylor, Simonetti, and Wight.

“I See A Darkness” and “Perfect Kiss” arrive as a limited edition 12” vinyl EP on June 12, featuring remixes from claire rousay and Black Forces. “I See A Darkness” and “Perfect Kiss” are out now. Initially available only on the vinyl edition, the remixes will see a digital release later this year.

Pre-orders are open at smugglersway.ffm.to/iseeadarkness and smugglersway.ffm.to/atms-12.