Exclusive Video Premiere: ‘Tethered Bones,’ Talos

ABOVE: EOIN FRENCH, AKA TALOS

Irish native Talos (Eoin French)’s haunting vocals strike a chilling chord in his debut single, “Tethered Bones.” The song, produced by Ian Ring of Young Wonder, is described by Talos as “a love song about how a relationship can engulf and transform you: what it can and does take away. What you lose and what you gain.” This notion of the fragility of love is emphasized through the song’s etherealness: its unsettling beauty offers to consume you—and also strip you bare.

The video for “Tethered Bones,” which we are pleased to premiere below, was shot and directed by Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson of Feel Good Lost. From the beginning, it was Talos and Canty’s intention for the project to evoke a filmic quality. This music-meets-cinema approach grounds itself in the black-and-white dream state sequences and the linear narrative of the video, both of which are reminiscent of a psychological thriller or horror film.

A panoramic shot of a rather deadly scene opens the video—severed deer antlers and a young woman’s feet lie covered in blood against a stark white floor. From there, the momentum builds as the viewer watches a disturbing sequence of events take place between a young woman and an older man (of note is a particularly grisly shot of a bloody bowl of All-Bran cereal). Canty explains the disconcerting nature of this relationship as his re-interpretation of the lyrics: “[The] idea of someone being so isolated and alone but at the same time being so smothered and attached to someone. It reminded me of stories I had read about Stockholm syndrome—the unusual relationships and bonds victims develop with their kidnappers.”

The raw emotion of the video is striking; there is an eeriness to it that is nonetheless enticing. Ultimately, the video highlights the bewitching and perhaps unexplained effects of total consumption, which take us back to Talos’ ominous lyrics: “I’m forested / I live alone / I’m islands in the sea / I’m tethered to your bones.”