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Jan 16, 2020 By Austin Trunick Kid Moxie

We’re excited to premiere a new music video from Kid Moxie, aka Elena Charbila. “Big In Japan” is a cover of the 1984 hit by the German synth-pop group Alphaville, and was reimagined by Kid Moxie 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—will be available digitally from Lakeshore Records on January 24.

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 ex-girlfriends infected him with the original strain.

Not To Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digitally from Lakeshore Records on January 24.

(lakeshorerecords.com)

(kidmoxie.bandcamp.com)