A few weeks ago, ONNI BOI shared his infectious new single, “Tides,” which was going full disco. The Helsinki’s singer-songwriter-producer has now unleashed the visuals for the track and they’re simply amazing. Directed by Kristian Lindén and produced by Tiistai, the short movie was inspired by nordic dogma95 film making and follows the story of a relationship between two young men. Alternately ambiguous, delicate and violent, the cinematic clip oscillates between tension and desire and captures the complexity of teenage love and sexual identity. A video that also gives a whole new meaning to the lyrics “So don’t talk about love, No I won’t talk about love”. About the visuals of “Tides”, the artist stated:

[su_quote]Most music videos look like fashion commercials or lifestyle stock footage to me so I’ve been super sceptical about making one for a long time. Good storytelling isn’t easy I know. The crew behind the video for tides had a pursuit for something genuine with all the skill in the world so I was thrilled to hand the track over and see what happens. I feel the little story they create here grows into big emotion. Where there’s infatuation and love there’s likely to be fear and pain too. And that’s fucking beautiful.[/su_quote]

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Following up on his 2017’s debut EP OB EP, Helsinki-based artist Onni Poika Pirkola (Poika stands for boy in Finnish) is back with a new track… and a new sound. While most of his previous songs were ethereal and ambient-soaked, his new offering, “Tides,” sounds like a phosphorescent disco-pop tune.

Driven by ONNI BOI‘s androgynous vocals, the track draws equally from 80s synth pop (the Pet Shop Boys would approve that one), indie pop and underground house music. But behind the cheesy and light-hearted soundscapes, the artist did not lose an ounce of his melancholy. About the meaning of the track, ONNI BOI detailed:

[su_quote]I had a verse for ‘Tides’ laying around for a year or two. A little loop in the head. There was something irritating but exciting about it so ended up waiting a while before recording it. I think Tides turned out cool and cheesy and also kind of personal. There’s this feeling of trouble with letting someone close (and keeping them that way). And how those are seasonal things, cycles, tides. It’s so much easier to please people than to let them in on where you head’s at. XO[/su_quote]