At first, Tanlines’s new music video for “Palace”—one of the singles from their sophomore album, Highlights, which came out last month—looks like a pretty standard narrative video about a couple’s relationship deteriorating. But there’s actually a lot of humor to the story and direction, thanks in large part to the stellar cast, which includes Alex Karpovsky (Girls), Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is The New Black), Ben Sinclair (High Maintenance), and Leo Fitzpatrick (Kids).
The video was directed by Karpovsky and Teddy Blanks, and despite the upbeat sound and bright colors, it’s a dark and somewhat depressing tale of missed connections, loneliness and heartbreak, with conveniently labeled bags of cocaine, money, and poison popping up throughout. Don’t worry: It has a happy ending…sort of.