Halloween All Year: King Complex Releases Dark New Video and Single

Riding the high of the Halloween season, everyone’s favorite (or at least my personal favorite) masked electronic-indie pop duo is back in action with a new single and music video.

With a little over a year under their belts since the band’s last release, it’s safe to say King Complex fans are hungry. And eat they shall with the dual release of both the single and video for “Falling For You.” This dark musical offering exceeds any previously held expectations of the band and has raised the bar far beyond where many other bands are currently operating.

Now is the part of this article where I’m going to tell you to stop reading, scroll down and watch the video. Once you’ve watched it, then we can delve into what the heck just happened.

I talked with Cody Doss, one half of King Complex and now featured music video monster (and monstress), about the conceptualization of the video. To sum it up simply, he said, “Don’t show it to your mom, but show it to the kids in the neighborhood.”

Jokes on him; my mom is a big King Complex fan and will watch the video despite its sinister nature.

My first area of interest was the physical transformation into a creature of nightmares. With the aid of the gory gurus at Crimson Hands F/X, he was able to undergo a 3-hour makeover for the video. Doss shared that he spent 16 hours in the makeup, unable to eat, drink or use the bathroom, inevitably leading to a bit of emotional agitation. But it’s all in the name of art, right?

Don’t show it to your mom, but show it to the kids in the neighborhood.

Following a full-day of shooting in various houses, he was cut out of the inhuman-exoskeleton that remained intact in the shape of his body and now resides inside his closet. I can think of very few things I’d like less to open my closet to.

The translation from a song to a video seems to come pretty naturally to the duo.

Doss said, “I’ve always really enjoyed viewing artworks that are worlds more than they are a specific field.”

He made a comparison to a theme park attraction. All of the elements in play to create an immersive experience at a theme park have parallels that can be seen in creating a memorable narrative in a music video. Audiences are truly thrilled when given the opportunity to have more than one sense stimulated at a time. And that ties into the live show element for the band as well.

From “Made in America” to “Pulling Strings,” King Complex has constructed an identity for themselves in the realm of music videos. Every concept is fully thought out and worked into something truly thought provoking. The mistake I find a lot of bands making is creating videos that are too literal in interpreting the song for the sake of leaving viewers with a sense of ease.

But those types of videos don’t keep people coming back. The video for “Falling For You” is one of those things where you think “should I keep watching?” And the answer is hell yes. Keep it going.

This song is kicking off a series of new releases from King Complex. To make sure you don’t miss anything new, follow the band on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.

 

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