In the music video for “Plutomania,” Lavender Child and her team have crafted a cautionary moral tale amid striking imagery.
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Canadian act Caitlin Comeau-Jarvis, known better by her stage name of Lavender Child, released her hauntingly beautiful debut EP, Reflections, in December of last year. Wanting to dig deeper into the artistic vision she had for Reflections, she set out to collaborate with five Canadian filmmakers to create unique music videos for each track off of the EP. And the results are as artistically ethereal as the EP itself.
The music video for the EP’s second track, “Plutomania,” which Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering today, was created by an all-female crew. From the direction, filming, and editing by Stephanie Traplin, to the performance by Michaela Woller, even right down to the character’s costume (also provided by Traplin), the video both proudly shows what can happen when women are given more chances to tell their stories.
Watch: “Plutomania” – Lavender Child
Soft keys and eerie strings, followed by Lavender Child’s gentle vocals, set the sound for the video’s opening scene. A woman stands gazing greedily at a rapidly-decaying cornucopia of fruit. The action unfolds as gentle drums come in: The plutomaniac hungrily consumes the fruit even as the time-lapse is interspersed with shots of decay and as Comeau-Jarvis intones macabre lines like “Money has no eyes / when you die, no one will cry.”
As the video progresses and the fruit slowly rots, it becomes more reminiscent of a still-life painting with a macabre twist. Instead of displaying wealth and abundance, the video captures the end result of sacrificing everything for wealth. It’s a cautionary tale of avarice set amid a backdrop of plenty and set to a haunting, dreamy rhythm that gently reminds us of the dangers of becoming obsessed with believing that, as Lavender Child sings in the chorus, “these things are everything.”
Taste the green on your lips
The colour you can’t resist
Money has no eyes
When you die, no one will cry
Lavender Child notes that the physical consumption of fruit in the video matches the consuming power of greed. Of the song and video, she explains, “‘Plutomania’ is the story of a person who has always valued wealth and material possessions over personal relationships. The music video features the plutomaniac erotically and ravenously consuming ‘the fruits of their labors.’” Isolated with their decaying wealth, “as the person nears the end of their life they reflect on their past and come to the realization of deep loneliness and sorrow.”
As the video creeps toward its end, close-up shots linger on mold growing rapidly and flies hovering over the once-fresh fruit. Hauntingly, the video cuts to black immediately after the last line; “I need somebody.” The abrupt end purposely jars after the video’s slow progression, forcing listeners quickly into contemplation about what they’ve seen.
In the video for “Plutomania,” Lavender Child and her team have created a unique and cautionary tale. Set amid striking imagery, the trippy melody and slowly-progressing scenes stick around long after the video ends.
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:: stream Reflections here ::
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