Highly Anticipated Woodkid Video Debuts
“The Golden Age is a timeless record…made to make listeners feel heroic.”
– Complex
“Sprawling, maximalist, epic”
– Vice
“It’s rare that a singular artist ever truly embodies an endless list of talent to such
unparalleled levels of greatness.”
– The Huffington Post
THE GOLDEN AGE is the 4th and last video from Woodkid’s eponymously titled debut album. Directed by Woodkid himself, real name Yoann Lemoine, the video includes a collaboration with British classical composer Max Richter. It is a beautiful and intense short film that explores the key moments in one young child’s formative years.
The video follows a series of masterpieces, all directed by Lemoine. Each video drew significant critical praise and millions of views on YouTube , securing Lemoine’s extreme talent of storytelling, both in song and visuals.
As Lemoine explains:
“The Golden Age is the last single and video for my first album. Throughout the process of directing videos for this story, I slowly removed all digital and post-production layers of my work to finally create this piece. It is somehow a postcard from my childhood, with memories and emotions from the countryside assembled together in a long, free, mellow piece. It’s about the child trapped inside, the haunting memories, the beautiful and the dark ones. I wanted the camera work and acting direction to be very organic and carnal, in opposition to the digital, rigid and super-composed aspects of the previous videos. That’s why we decided to shoot everything handheld, without any mechanical movement and with no post-production. In that way, I would say this video is very different from the other ones.
It all started when I bought an original print by my favorite photographer, William Gedney, friend and contemporary of Lee and Maria Friedlander, who shot families in rural America in the sixties. I decided that this piece would pay tribute to the beauty of his work and the way he shoots boys and men in their environment, to the sensuality of his eye, which describes so well what I felt for other boys when I was younger.
In order to extend the song and create the right mood for this piece, I collaborated with composer Max Richter. He extended and re-recorded his piece ‘Embers’ to adapt it to the pace and tonality of ‘The Golden Age.’ Together, we created this very free ‘hybrid’ edit of the track, which tells so much about the pace of never ending childhood summers.”
“In a way, this piece is a final goodbye to four years of work and tour for this album.” – Woodkid
The French musician, songwriter, director, photographer and designer has made a huge impact both commercially and critically with his debut album The Golden Age by selling over 400,000 units and attracting close to 65 million views for his 3 video clips.
He has collaborated with Grammy Award winners and nominees Pharell Williams and Kendrick Lamar as well as the multi Academy Award winning Hans Zimmer.
His audiovisual live performance at the 2014 Coachella was named “Most Eye-Popping Set” by Rolling Stone magazine.
“The Golden Age” by Woodkid is available globally through Green United Music/Universal Music Germany.
“GOLDEN AGE” Video: