American indie-folk musician Sufjan Stevens just dropped a new single, Video Game. The song is part of his upcoming album The Ascension, that's slated for a September 25 release. The latest single also features TikTok sensation Jalaiah Harmon. Jalaiah became famous on the platform because of her dance move called Renegade. The video also sees her doing the signature dance move.
The video sees the 14-year-old Jalaiah grooving in front of a neon-heavy CGI-background. In a statement the artiste explained, “The main takeaway of Video Game for me is: your worth (invaluable) should never be based on other people’s approval (ephemeral). Jalaiah epitomizes all of this, and I’m truly inspired by her. So I thought, ‘what if we could get Jalaiah to star in a ‘dance video’ about not wanting to star in a ‘dance video?’ I’m so honored she agreed.” Musically it the song has a synth-pop and soft rock feel, with midtempo beats.
The lyrics go “I don’t wanna be your personal Jesus/I don’t wanna live inside of that flame, In a way I wanna be my own believer/I don’t wanna play your video game.” The video is directed by interactive designer Nicole Ginelli.
Watch the video here: