How do you follow up a video as big as the world? With one that directs the viewer’s gaze to moments of great emotional intimacy. That’s exactly how Tiny Fighter did it. After capturing the attention of thousands with their expansive clip for “New Century” – one that made creative use of a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree camera – they turned the lens on frontwoman Therese Karlsson, singing alone in a dark room, in the gorgeous clip for “Hollow Talk”. And from here, there’s only one way to go: from the hush of the studio to the raucous energy of the party. Yes, video number three captures the Stockholm-based independent pop duo in action, and demonstrates just how much excitement their concerts generate. The “Want Friends” clip does more than merely further Tiny Fighter’s reputation as great, innovative video artists. It shows that they also understand the big picture.
To realize their latest vision, Karlsson and her partner Tim Spelman have turned to another Stockholm artist: Tim Claxton, a video director with deep roots in the Northern European alternative music scene. Claxton specializes in electrifying performance clips – he’s made memorable ones for Lower, The Beekeepers, Midnighter, and other independent artists – and he’s matched Tiny Fighter with a video that plays directly to their strengths. This isn’t the meditative Karlsson of the “Hollow Talk” video on display, it’s a fiery Karlsson, a swaggering, magnetic star of the show, one willing to take her case directly to the camera. The clip suits the mood of the song, which is more rambunctious and propulsive than anything we’ve heard from Tiny Fighter so far. Even the normally austere Spelman gets into the action, looking confident, lithe, and altogether ready to rock.
There’s a good reason for this change. Tiny Fighter has been in a whirlwind ever since the group’s emergence last year. In a little less than twenty-four months, they’ve gone from an artful studio creation to a group capable of bringing the heat in any venue of any size. They’ve jumped the Atlantic to play in America – they’ll be releasing the “Want Friends” single and video at Pianos in New York City in mid-November – and made their international appeal manifest. Those people gyrating wildly in the background of the “Want Friends” clip? That’s no fiction, that’s the response their music generates. They’ll keep adding dimensions as they grow, and they’ll go right on showing the world just how much they can do.
