London-based electronic artist Tourist, a.k.a., William Phillips, comes from the orbit of Disclosure and Sam Smith. For his latest music video, “To Have You Back," which premiered earlier this week on NOWNESS, Phillips tasked artist Davy Evans and animator Jason Drew with creating a visual representation of a doomed relationship suddenly reanimating. Drew and Evans, the later known for his in-camera effects and the now iconic Coexist album sleeve for The xx, open the video with black-and-white 3D images that are incredibly detailed and framed. Over these computer-generated images, the two directors layer footage of fluids shot in what looks macrophotography, which move around in mesmerizing waves. As the song unfolds with its unmistakable UK sound of electronic R&B, the visuals evolve to include color. Sure, the metaphor of something dead coming back to life is direct, but the visuals, in both their minimal and color-infused moments, are beautifully rendered.
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