For their latest animated music video, “Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 1,” the Ukraine-based music collective New Laconia maintains their ambitious endeavor to turn sound into a wider story world. Far more than a song with visuals, this release serves as an invitation to a place where melody and mythology, music and mischief meet.
The video transports viewers to an extraterrestrial pub straight out of time and space, a neon-drenched refuge where reality only holds so much sway and paradoxes flow as freely as the booze. At the center of this trippy water hole stands the Bartender Bear, a hirsute host who dispenses not only cocktails but also portals to strange worlds. He has the Engineer, a quiet, sidekick inventor whose reserved ingenuity hints at more secrets than his surface likability suggests. Together, they spark the beginning of a sci-fi detective story, one whose twists and mysteries are hinted at with just enough description to leave us hungry for the next installment.
New Laconia is nothing if not striking. Each track is a scene, each album a season, each video a doorway to fresh adventures. It’s a creative ethos that grew out of cult-loved epics like Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Firefly. However, rather than relying on memories, the project constructs its own mythology, allowing the characters and settings to guide the story while keeping the musicians concealed behind the curtain.
The distinction of “Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 1” is how the sound and storytelling meld so completely. The song throbs with energy that’s at once playful and mysterious, an ideal analogue to the neon colors and cosmic allure of Hex’s visuals. A balance is at work here, laugh lines and heart not on the surface that’s undergirded by mystery, being deep in shadow.
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