iamamiwhoami: An audiovisual experience
Iamamiwhoami is the coolest viral marketing campaign you’ve never heard of.
Since late 2009, the act has been releasing mysterious videos to YouTube in the form of six one-minute teasers followed by seven full-length songs. Over two years later, the band has yet to reveal its members’ identities (although it’s obvious that Swedish singer Jonna Lee is the frontwoman) and has launched a new project that invokes the same out-of-this-world imagery that gave us toilet paper beds, cardboard box castles and foil-wrapped cars in past videos.
“Kin,” the band’s first full-length album, was announced in February for a June 11 release. Fans need not wait that long to enjoy it, however, because unlike a traditional album, “Kin” will be released in chapters on Iamamiwhoami’s YouTube channel, with a new song and an accompanying video every two weeks.
Three songs have been released so far, and each has been excellent in its own right. “Sever,” a haunting ballad with a gothic feel, began the series, followed by the fast-paced electro thump of “Drops” and the catchy “Good Worker,” which sounds like Kate Bush doing disco.
All the while, the videos have told the story of a woman terrorized by strange monsters made of hair in her apartment. The woman drops through the floors of her apartment building to the parking garage, only to be captured by six of the monsters and dragged to the forest, which is where “Good Worker” leaves us.
The next single “Play” has been confirmed for release on March 28, and the same pattern of a new song and video every two weeks will presumably continue until June. Theories abound about what is to come, but much of the excitement of this project is its complete lack of predictability. Although the release dates have become routine, Iamamiwhoami still manages to build incredible suspense through the slowly-unfolding story.
Iamamiwhoami is one of the most innovative and captivating projects to come along in recent years, and the recent videos only reinforce that. If “Kin” upholds the standard set by the first three singles, it is well on its way to becoming album of the year. ★
http://www.insidevandy.com/life/music/article_2023782a-717f-11e1-92a6-001a4bcf6878.html
