COLD- AND SYNTH WAVE INSPIRED COVER OF LEGENDARY 80s EVERGREEN “Big In Japan” is a cover of the legendary 1984 hit by the German synth-pop group Alphaville, and was reimagined by KID MOXIE, aka Elena Charbila for the soundtrack of the indie film Not to Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk. The full soundtrack — also composed by Kid Moxie — is available digitally from Lakeshore Records. For her cover of the song, Charbila exchanges the shimmering pop of the original version for a darker, moodier accompaniment, enveloping her faded, dreamlike vocals with a pulsing synthesizer and Eastern notes, giving the song a palpable neo-noir vibe. Directed by Joe Rubinstein, the music video stars Charbila and a young dancer by the name of Hannah Williams. “Though the score is mostly instrumental, I felt that the ‘Big In Japan’ cover summed up the wistful quality I was seeking in a fresh but also familiar way,” Charbila explains. “It is such an iconic song I had to forget I’d ever heard it to recreate it. The video, which was shot throughout a single day at the director’s studio in DTLA, is a bit of commentary on children being forced to grow up too fast, especially in Hollywood.” Based in Los Angeles, Kid Moxie previously collaborated with David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti on a new version of “Mysteries Of Love,” the unforgettable, This Mortal Coil-inspired track originally sung by Julee Cruise for 1986’s Blue Velvet. Kid Moxie also appears in the film Not To Be Unpleasant, But We Need To Have a Serious Talk, which was directed by Giorgos Georgopoulos. The movie follows a womanizer who learns he’s the carrier of a rare virus which is highly lethal to females, and the only hope for a cure is to find which of his exgirlfriends infected him with the original strain.
| InfraRot sales rank: | 1,333 |
| InfraRot item number: | 9956.419 |
| EAN/UPC: | 4260472170298 |
| 1. | Big In Japan |
| 2. | Closer Than Ever |
