Watch Dev Hynes’ VeilHymn Project’s Gorgeous ‘Hymn’ Video
To complement their breezy debut slow jam “Hymn,” VeilHymn‘s Devonté Hynes and Bryndon Cook have debuted a gorgeous, Jamaica-set video for the song.
Malia James directed and Juri Onuki – a frequent collaborator of Hynes for his main project Blood Orange – choreographed the clip, which was shot over two days in Kingston, Jamaica. Locals play all the roles and dance across the city to the beautiful, tender track. The video drew inspiration from the work of Malian photographer Malick Sidibé’s black-and-white documentation of Sixties pop culture in Bamako.
“I’ve always been a massive fan of Malick Sidibé’s work and have wanted to pay tribute to him since his passing last year,” James tells Rolling Stone. “Taking Dev and Bryndon’s ideas and merging my love of Sidibe, I wanted to explore the concept of creating a fictional, vintage time and place similar to the confident and carefree spirits that Sidibé has documented.”
Hynes and Cook, who is part of the band Starchild and the New Romantic, first connected in 2011 and have worked together sporadically over the years. “We’ve casually collaborated on a cover of Neptune’s ‘Lemonade’ and I’ve done some guest backing vocals for the first Cupid Deluxe shows and on his latest album, Freetown Sound,” Cook tells RS. VeilHymn is the first time the pair have collaborated on something to release together.
“‘Hymn’ came out of our mutual love for music and collaboration. Nothing was forced — everything was easy and natural. We made a song to reflect that attitude of openness and positive self evaluation. One of the things I admire about working with him is his ability to always have a great idea of what needs to be in place to complete the picture, and get a feeling across.”