“Where should we escape when we have no place to go?” muses Swedish director Marcus Söderlund of his new video to introspective electronic duo Mount Kimbie’s sweeping single, “You Took Your Time,” filmed on location just outside London in the marshy, urban landscape of Tilbury, Essex. “In a more equal society, the suburbs wouldn’t be places you have to leave.” The director is best known for his iconic monochrome video to The xx’s, “VCR.” “I love color. But I also find it really calming to work in black and white, it’s like your senses becomes sharper once you desaturate.” The song features the hostile vocal flow of 19-year-old rapper, King Krule aka Archy Marshall, and is taken from Warp Records-released Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, Mount Kimbie’s follow-up to the acclaimed debut Crooks & Lovers. NOWNESS spoke to Kai Campos—one half of the band alongside Dominic Maker—about their creative collaborations. 

What’s the song about? It seems to be a collection of mini narratives.
Kai Campos: The thing about King Krule’s lyrics is that his style of writing is really stream of consciousness. A lot of abstract, dream imagery comes out, to paint a wonderfully detailed picture.

What was it that drew you to work with Marcus Söderlund?
KC: Initially, I was a little bit wary of its urban look, but the quality of his work and his aesthetic style persuaded me that he was the right person to go with and I love it. The main thing I wanted to avoid was a moral to the story. That’s not what we do musically, and I don’t think that would have worked, especially for this song. So I wanted it to have a lot of strong imagery in it.

Can you tell us what you think is the most successful element of the video?
KC: The thing I like about it is Marcus’ compassionate portrayal of his characters. You can imagine the location being on the outskirts of any city, really, but he’s not patronizing. He doesn’t give any easy conclusions.