The Hickey Underworld share handcrafted animated video for "Keep"

Today The Hickey Underworld share the video for “Keep” one of the singles on their latest record “Cold Sun”, which came out 13 March on V2 records. Keep is one of the first more ‘quiet’ Hickey Underworld songs and turned out to be an album favourite of many. The clip was created by Madeline Khan and Jesse DeMartin of State of Poison, a Canadian production company specializing in music videos. After hearing the advance single “Euromancer,” State of Poison reached out to The Hickey Underworld themselves: “Heard your music come up on our ‘suggested’ and were blown away! It would be sick to do a music video for you.”

Inspired by classic animated films such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and Moonbird (1959), the directing duo opted for a mix of stop-motion, paper cut-outs, and traditional cel animation. This handcrafted aesthetic perfectly complements the fragile “Keep,” the moment of calm on Cold Sun.

The Hickey Underworld - Keep [Official Music Video]

More About The Hickey Underworld

The Hickey Underworld was founded by childhood friends Younes Faltakh and Jonas Govaerts. They named themselves after a song by The Nation of Ulysses, one of theirfavorite bands on Dischord Records, the legendary indie label of Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye.

“Future Words,” which received heavy airplay on Studio Brussel and Radio Willy. That Dischord influence is clearly audible on their self-titled debut album, released in 2009 on the French label Naïve. The album, produced by Bent Van Looy, Niek Meul, and Reinhard Vanbergen of Das Pop, also revealed the band’s more pop-oriented side — particularly in the breakout single.

Three years later came their second album, I’m Under The House, I’m Dying (2012, PIAS), again produced by Das Pop and mixed by Dave Sardy, former frontman of Barkmarket— another hero of Faltakh and Govaerts. For the first time, Arabic sounds began to seep into their music, an element that Faltakh, who is half Tunisian, would explore further in his side project Arabnormal.

In 2015, the band released Ill on the same label, recorded by Niels Hendrix (Fence). The title proved somewhat prophetic: Jonas Govaerts developed a chronic hearing disorder and was temporarily replaced by Tim Van Hamel, the driving force behind Millionaire. Not long after the recordings, Faltakh decided to pull the plug on the group.

Fast forward to 2023: during the lockdown, the itch returned. Faltakh, drummer Jimmy Wouters, and bassist Yorgos Tsakiridis found their way back to the rehearsal room. Original member Jonas Govaerts also rejoined. The band recorded two standalone singles in Millionaire drummer Damien Vanderhasselt’s studio — “Living On Big Foot” and“Wall On The Fly” — and reappeared on stage at several festivals that summer.

Not only was the desire back, but also the inspiration: soon after, The Hickey Underworld began recording their long-awaited fourth album. The sessions took place partly withVanderhasselt and partly in Sweden, where producer Niek Meul has a studio. The band chose Cold Sun as the title — also the opening track of the album.

The Hickey Underworld Live

27 March Live @ Trix, Antwerpen

2 April Live @ Cactus Club, Brugge

16 April Live @ Beurschouwburg, Brussel

08 May Live @ Rotown, Rotterdam