New Video: ya - Movie

Pop can be a dirty word to some people; especially those of us who've willingly jumped head-first onto the murky depths of Rock n' Roll's sordid waters. I'm not going to deny, I certainly had that attitude when I was younger and was obsessed by the lure of Punk Rock revisionism. Strangely though, perhaps due to some mellowing with age, Pop has become much more interesting to my ears - and seemingly - much more subversive.

An artist that can be considered to be producing such subversive and interesting music is ya. ya is the work of Anna Akopyan, who is originally from Russia, but is now based in Spain. I first heard ya during the early days of the blog and was intrigued by the eclectic nature of her music; we featured her on our first Submission Hold section soon after. 

Releasing her debut album 'CHANGE UR BODY' in January, ya has produced a new video for a track that is one of the highlights of the album: 'Movie' - it's a song that creates the ya manifesto for stardom, fused with a fierce sense of individuality, with effortless ease. It's clear from the video that there is more depth and hidden meanings than the song gives you initially - See the full video below.

 

The video sees ya in line to seemingly audition for something with several other candidates and it's soon apparent, it's to sell her soul. It deals with the spectre of sexism in the entertainment industry as explored in the lyrics:

Don't wanna be a groupie, wanna be the star.

I asked Anna what else she felt the imagery added to the subtext of the song.

I wanted to reflect on the dehumanisation of artists, how often they are seen and treated not as people, but as zoo animals merely existing to entertain others.

The context of the selling of the soul was also important to Anna on a different level too.

But it's also religiously meaningful to me, basically my soul is so doomed that it won't even sell, so it's no good for living. All I can do is be isolated from others and be that entertaining artist for eternity.

The video creates a dark and other-worldly spectacle that takes influence from the likes of David Lynch, Fellini and also the Russian and Armenian Surrealism that ya grew up fascinated by.

Take a listen to 'CHANGE UR BODY' below if you like what you hear and see from the video. You can also follow ya on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and you can buy from the links on her Songwhip.