Synopsis

Nick Thorburn enters a strange, dimly lit world where he finds himself performing with a lively band of skeleton musicians. What begins as an uneasy encounter gradually turns into an enthusiastic musical collaboration, with Thorburn singing and playing alongside the bony ensemble. The video mixes live action, puppetry, and stylized effects to create a playful but faintly macabre atmosphere. By the end, the boundary between human performer and skeleton band has disappeared in a darkly comic final twist.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video's visual concept was inspired by Max Fleischer's 1929 animated short "The Skeleton Dance," a landmark piece of early cartoon animation.

• The production aimed for a world that felt like stop-motion animation, even though the skeleton musicians were created as physical puppets.

• Four puppeteers operated the skeletons, with each performer controlling a different part of the body: the arms, legs, torso, or head. Their coordinated work was required in every shot.

• Monster Effects handled the production design, while the video also credited separate teams for visual effects and sound design.

• The clip was released in February 2012 to promote "A Sleep & A Forgetting," which came out on February 14, 2012. The album was written during Nick Thorburn's move from New York to Los Angeles after the end of a relationship.

• "Hallways" is one of the album's shortest songs, running for approximately two minutes and 53 seconds.

• The video was praised for turning the song's upbeat piano-pop character into something simultaneously whimsical, eerie, and theatrical.