The video for Sparks’ The Existential Threat, a highlight from their stellar 2020 album, was released the same day as physical copies of A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip were made available. The video’s congruously surreal, absurdist conception was masterminded by Cyriak, an animator famous for a magnificently made Run the Jewels video amongst many other oddities.
This is the animator’s first feature in six months and, while being perfectly suited to the absurdist nature of Sparks’ entire discography as well as The Existential Threat itself, is simultaneously as brilliantly bonkers as any selection of Cyriak’s work. The continuously unravelling, and warped, through-a-wormhole visual aperitif perfectly complements the creeping tension from the track’s piercing sax effusions.
Upon perusing Sparks’ recent album for a possible video, Cyriak says The Existential Threat, “immediately stood out.” He adds that “the subject of existential dread is something I have been fascinated by for as long as I can remember. It was like I could see the whole video inside my head as I listened to the song.”
Besides this track, Sparks’ recent album discusses the overwhelming dread of technology’s rising presence in society, more explicitly with the evocative but hilarious iPhone. The video for Existential Threat also illustrates this theme, with Cyriak detailing that the track and video symbolise “a feeling that hangs over us all, especially in these modern times of information overload. Are these threats real, or imaginary? Are they just a paranoid delusion, or do we ignore them at our peril? It was great fun making this video, and I hope it makes people think about their inevitable impending death in a more light-hearted way.”
Watch the video below. Purchase A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip on all formats here.
