Tove Lo has unveiled the official music video for her latest single, “I like u” today. Made in collaboration with innovative Tokyo-based anime project, Shinsei Galverse, the video features hand-drawn anime artwork and original character design by the video’s director, Japanese storyboard artist Ayaka Ohira. The video was produced by Shinsei Galverse and ARCH Inc, and animated by SoK LLC. The creative fusion offers up the perfect pairing. Tove’s summer smash is a sonic nod to 90s dance music, while Galverse Director Ayaka Ohira brings her ‘nostalgic x futuristic’ visuals to life, combining the aesthetic of classic sci-fi anime with cutting-edge techniques and technology.
The video finds Tove’s anime persona stepping beyond her own creative world into the style and story of Shinsei Galverse. Her robot lover, Annie from her seminal ‘No One Dies From Love’ and ‘Borderline’ videos returns in flashbacks. Even as Tove’s planet comes under attack from hostile aliens, she pines for her lost lover. Awakening to her true form, as a badass scorpion-tailed Gal, we learn the dark secret at the core of her new powers – Scorpions consume their mate to survive in harsh conditions.
Speaking about the music video, Tove Lo reveals, “I’m so excited for all of you to enter GALVERSE; a powerful and beautiful creation by Ayaka Ohira. I’m so honored to have the final chapter of me and Annie take place in this Universe. It’s been such an amazing experience watching this come to life by Ayaka and her team, and the fact that my character gets to be a part of the heroines in Galverse is so god damn cool. I hope you love this video and feel all the creativity and hard work that went into it <3 R.I.P Annie.”
The director adds, “I wanted to create something like a science fiction spectacle. I thought a lot about how to combine the sadness of love and a story on a cosmic scale. Tove and I talked about how we wanted to express the insecurity, vulnerability, and powerful strength of women, as well as the intense and bizarre side of Tove’s character.”
Tove is donating a portion of her streaming proceeds from ‘I like u’ to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention org for LGBTQ young people. For more information please visit www.thetrevorproject.org
Talking about the track, Tove Lo explains, “I wanted to make another dance song that sonically felt like a nod to 90’s and Y2K dance music. I wrote this song with Timfromthehouse, we worked on it for months in between tours to figure the perfect arrangement. It’s not the usual pop structure but it’s perfect for this song, I think. Lyrically I’m telling the story of my thoughts the first time I saw the love of my life. They’re not clean but at least I never said any of them out loud.”
For the music video’s creation, the Galverse team brought industry legends onboard as key staff for the music video production, with shared credits on iconic anime ranging from AKIRA and Ninja Scroll to Spirited Away.Art Director Hiromasa Ogura defined the look and feel of cyberpunk forever with his work on anime classics Ghost in the Shell (1995). Ogura and his studio, Ogura Atelier, contributed the expansive cosmic background art and art direction to the video. Director and Shinsei Galverse co-founder Ayaka Ohira was trained under cel-animation masters like Yoji Kuri and Manabu Ohashi. Prior to co-founding the Galverse project, Ohira worked as an independent animator directing music videos for influential Japanese artists including m-flo, JP THE WAVY, and CHAI. Galverse’s innovative community-first model allowed fans and supporters to contribute ideas, character and enemy designs to the video, while working to Ohira’s strong creative vision. Shinsei Galverse is the first original IP from Tokyo-based creative tech studio WAGAMI Labs Inc. The Shinsei Galverse anime pilot will be released in 2024.
2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
09/05 – Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN φ
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09/12 – Roadrunner – Boston, MA φ
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