We’re definitely in love with Garbage‘s new music video for “Magnetized,” the second single and seventh track off the iconic alt-rock band’s latest album, Strange Little Birds (you can read the full Nerdist album review here). This video has everything you could ever want in October–mysterious lab, test tubes, glowing ropes, and a pink-haired Shirley Manson dressed up like a witch–just in time for Nerdoween!
Another weird and awesome thing about this video: it’s directed by Scott Stuckey, the creator of the cult-classic children’s show for PBS, Pancake Mountain (you can read some Nerdist memories about that crazy show here). This has to be one of the most perfect pairings of awesome oddballs this year! In a comment for Dazed’s behind-the-scenes article, Stuckey said, “‘Magnetized’ is one of my favorite songs on the album. Any time you get to send 300,000 volts of electricity through an eight-year-old Shirley Manson doppelgänger and the real Shirley, then YES, sign me up!†Apparently Manson and Stuckey are IRL neighbors! The gang–Manson, Butch, Duke, and Steve–just had to hop over to the Pancake Mountain Headquarters and start filming.
Strange Little Birds was a successful throwback to their earlier, gritty mid-’90s start, so it makes sense that their first single, “Empty,” had a simple and hauntingly nostalgic look and feel. Stylistically, “Magnetized” plays with bold underground notes from their later ’90s era–the video itself is particular reminiscent of their futuristic 1998 music video for “Push It.”
Manson added, “We wanted to create an ode to the magic of science and the mysteries of love.†And even though, based on science, people can’t literally be magnetized but rather electrified, this music video is winning in all the right ways. The band kicks off their anticipated world tour on October 21 in California, finishing on December 14 in Chile. What’s your favorite song off Strange Little Birds? And more importantly, what’s your favorite music video by Garbage? Let us know!
Images: Stunvolume Records
