Australian electro-pop artist Kiyomi brings her enigmatic debut single and video “High Ladder,” to Irish shores via Helium Records. With the single comes her visually captivating official music video, creative directed by world renowned designer Charlie Le Mindu.
“As soon as I heard the song ‘High Ladder,’ I had this wild idea for the video,” explains Le Mindu. “Kiyomi is one of the bright young rising stars in pop music today. She is super imaginative and creates her own world, so we wanted the video to show that.”
Kiyomi is a bare-faced Sia, with a powerful instinct for music marked by her own introversion. She is a grounded Bjork, who explores the dynamics of pop on her own terms. The influence of fine art on her career is apparent from her debut release. “High Ladder” illuminates her world with a single fluorescent bulb. Its video focuses on a statue of Kiyomi, trapped as external factors dance around her. It reflects how a paralysis can pervade our physical body as well as our psyche; the song is about achieving something significant, from the perspective of someone who continues to struggle. The song was produced by the globally recognised Nick Launay, who has previously worked on records with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Arcade Fire, to name a few.
“I wrote ‘High Ladder’ when chasing the dream was like chasing moonlight. It was a time of many closed doors and this song started to open them,” Kiyomi says. “The song turned into a transpacific collaboration bouncing between LA and Australia, developing layer by layer. ‘High Ladder’ comes from my head and my heart and I hope it resonates with other dreamers.”
