VIDEO PREMIERE | Bryson Cone, "Devotion"

The sublime synth pop devotion of Bryson Cone; press photo courtesy of Laura Moreau.

The PNW's own electic artist Bryson Cone has been creating a curious stir of sounds and styles in recent years. Discovered by this writer through word of mouth among fellow artists under the moniker of Fog Father — Cone's increased meticulousness in composition, creation and execution can be heard on full display on the recent Cleopatra release Magnetism. Bryson orchestrates a big time production of studied DIY techniques and smart arrangements that sound warped from vintage cult dust bin fare with a romantic flare for cinematic sophisti-drama and surrealism. Cone has the ability to captivate audiences with works that strike chords of lost long player déjà vu right before delivering compositions that flip the scripts of predictable arrangement agreements.

Presenting the debut of the Paula Henriquez visual for Bryson Cone’s “Devotion”; witness a decadent karaoke house soiree of colorful lights, wigs, hats, tiaras and high spirits that match the song's vibe. Accentuating the delicate balance between sweetness and the surreal, the partygoers enjoy libations, pizza and smokes while taking turns on the microphone. With "Devotion" being played on the living room television in a setup like a home spun karaoke bar, the gang basks in the joy of the track's sentimental blissfulness. Henriquez's visual depicts the gang falling in love with the track, slow dancing in lip-synced tributes of infatuated expressions and gestures. From acting out the sensual and glamorous lyrics to reveling in the ennui of dearly, devout, dedicated feelings; the visual embodies the enrapturing essence and strange magic that "Devotion" exudes. The video and song sweeps us off our feet and whisks us away to far off, yet familiar territories of romanticism to the utmost degree of endearment and expressions that attempt to illustrate the ineffable.

Bryson Cone also presents the debut of the karaoke party version for “Devotion” from Nico González Ortiz:

Bryson Cone shared the following reflections on the the inception of the delicately expressed and designed song of “Devotion” and the corresponding visual:

“Devotion” is a song about letting yourself be in love with someone, while willingly knowing that it’s only temporary. I wrote it at a time when I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to someone despite an ending becoming clear. The song contains a ton of symbols in the lyrics. Some of them reference André Breton’s book Nadja, which contains a character who leaves a lipstick kiss on a postnote for her partner — he then finds in the future but isn’t sure that she’s real. It’s never clear if she’s real or she represents his romantic idealism from the past. I tried to play with that existential quality to the idea of what happens to love and infatuation when it becomes a memory, after our lives have moved on and we are merely remembering things the way we think they were.

The artists who put this video together live in Chile and we've never met in person. The director and cinematographer, Paula Henriquez, is an amazing photographer and I've been a fan since early spring when I found her online. We started talking and instantly became friends and discussed collaborations. I love what she came up with and am floored by the creativity that she and her friends brought to the video, including illustration wizard Nico Gonzalez who created the super cool artsy moody animation for the karaoke vid.

The haunted world of Bryson Cone & company; press photo courtesy of Eirinn Lou Riggs.

Director Paula Henriquez shared the following thoughts on the visual:

In this project, I invited my friends with whom I'm living during the pandemic to collaborate. We are all artists and this was our first collaboration all together.

It was a very fun project to do during the pandemic. We've been locked in the same house for a long time by now, which contributes to the fact that we all had many ideas for the filming. The video perfectly reflects our personalities and our days of confinement during isolation; playing Wii, singing karaoke, smoking weed, laughing, talking, eating and spending a lot of time together.

You can find more information about Paula Henriquez on their website.

Magnetism is available now via Cleopatra Records.