Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams' new video sets New Age sounds against death-defying dirt-bikes

Earlier this month, Sufjan Stevens announced a mostly instrumental New Age collaboration with his step-father, Lowell Brams. Called Aporia, it pairs sci-fi themes with analog synths and an altogether gauzy vibe, and was directly influenced by the scores to films like Blade Runner, Under the Skin, and Hereditary. We got a taste of the album’s spacey vibe with its previous single, “The Unlimited,” and now Stevens has shared another song, “The Runaround,” which features one of the album’s few inclusions of Stevens’ vocals. They’re buried in effects, sure, but no less lovely. Just as notable, though, is the song’s accompanying video, which we hope can set a new template for what ambient visuals can look like.

New Age and ambient sounds are so often accompanied by clips of undulating colors, pastoral landscapes, or setting suns, but “The Runaround” is set to rich, hypnotic shots of city-dwelling dirt-bikers pulling breakneck stunts. It’s shot by ABUTTA492, a filmmaker also known as Adama Filmz, and per their YouTube and Instagram it appears the Bike Life movement is something they’ve been chronicling for a while. A press release reveals the video spans the streets of Harlem, Atlanta, and Miami, and points to a recent short about Miami’s Bike Life scene. We’d also recommend the excellent 2013 documentary, 12 O’Clock Boys.

Give the video a watch below.

Aporia is out March 27 via Asthmatic Kitty.