Synopsis

HVOB's "Always Like This" unfolds as a surreal, painterly journey rather than a conventional narrative. Figures, landscapes, creatures, and dramatic scenes appear to shift and dissolve into one another, creating the impression of a moving gallery of old-master images. The visual language is dark, dreamlike, and deliberately open-ended, allowing the music's melancholy and repetition to guide the mood. Instead of presenting HVOB as performers, the video builds an imagined world from animated drawings and continuously transforming tableaux.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was created by the Vienna-based visual collective lichterloh, whose HVOB collaborations also included live visuals and other music videos.

• Its imagery was developed from drawings associated with C. Lorrain, H. Bosch, F. Goya, Rembrandt, A. Durer, J. Both, and A. Kubin. The result places the electronic track in a distinctly art-historical setting.

• "Always Like This" is HVOB's interpretation of a song originally written by Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club. The HVOB version appeared on the duo's 2013 debut album, "HVOB."

• The track was also issued as a 2013 EP with remixes by Oliver Koletzki and andhim. The andhim version received a separate video treatment that reworked the visual symbolism of the original.

• At the time of the release, the track was promoted as the third single from "HVOB." The accompanying EP was reported to have reached No. 1 on the Austrian iTunes Dance chart, No. 3 in Germany, and No. 3 on Beatport's Deep House chart.

• HVOB's name is short for "Her Voice Over Boys." The duo was formed in Vienna in 2012 by Anna Muller and Paul Wallner, shortly before the release of their debut album and this video.