Synopsis
Set against a shadowy nighttime cityscape, "Black Light" follows a group of young women caught up in a mysterious exchange involving bottles filled with smoke. Cars, text messages, dim interiors and fleeting encounters create an atmosphere of secrecy and unease. The narrative unfolds more like a nocturnal dream than a conventional storyline, with the characters moving through an enigmatic underworld where ordinary objects take on unusual importance. The video mirrors the track's hypnotic electronic mood with cool, atmospheric imagery.
Factoids & Trivia
- "Black Light" was released as Sebastien Schuller's second single from the album that became "Heat Wave." It followed "Nightlife," another track supported by a music video.
- The video appeared online in December 2013, several months before "Heat Wave" was released in France on September 1, 2014.
- Schuller described the clip as a "somber video" in a post on his own website.
- In an interview, Schuller noted that the video was made over only a small number of shooting days and described its visual approach as having a cinematic quality close to Wong Kar-Wai.
- The artist acknowledged similarities between the videos for "Nightlife" and "Black Light," including their nocturnal urban settings, female characters and a scene involving text messages in a car. He viewed the resemblance as a coincidence rather than a shared storyline.
- The production credits list Delphine Genest as editor, Yutaka Onozawa as stylist and Thomas Ozoux as director of photography. The production was handled by Wanda and Celine Roubaud.
- "Black Light" was distributed digitally as a standalone single before appearing on the album. Schuller said he regarded the song and its video as a way of introducing the record rather than simply as a conventional commercial single.