Watch This: Circuit Des Yeux - "Lithonia"

Something sinister is brewing in Chicago chamber pop artist Circuit des Yeux's new video for "Lithonia": while the strings begin in elegant swoops before slowly fraying into discord and guitar static makes a harsh intrusion, Haley Fohr's voice wrangles with big existential ruminations and questions ("What's freedom, and what's reality?"). The video plays with the way intimacy feeds into darkness, offering us an almost voyeuristic glimpse into Fohr's personal space as she changes clothes, camera honing in on the pimples on her back, chops off her hair, her hands trembling as she grips a pair of scissors, and drenches herself in sticky-sweet syrup. The liquid coats her face as if raining tears as she stares into our eyes, and even if the moment is uncomfortable the video still plays it as a moment of liberation.

Watch This: Hellogoodbye - "(Everything Is) Debatable"

The evolution of Hellogoodbye has been fascinating: while many of its synth-pop peers have been pulling in more electronic directions, the band went in the opposite direction on 2010's lush but organic Would It Kill You?, and on its upcoming third album Everything Is Debatable, its two spheres of influence finally meld into one hugely satisfying whole. (Look for our review of that album in the upcoming weeks.) The band has just released the video for its single "(Everything Is) Debatable," and it's a surprisingly spooky affair, finding frontman Forrest Kline floating in the air in a variety of settings: above a quiet forest lake, amidst the radiant glow of the sun, and in an isolated room, for starters. The video leaves things open to interpretation and elucidates a number of possible meanings. When Kline can only skim the surface of the pond he's hovering over, is he stuck there, only able to experience life removed from it all? When he slowly ascends towards the sky, is he being abducted or set free? Is this enlightenment or exorcism? The song raises these questions too, squiggly synths and guitar lines stolen from Bikini Bottom all tinged with urgency, but the video goes beyond. It touches on the supernatural but in doing so illustrates themes of relationships, honesty and intimacy that are powerfully human--and the same can be said for what Hellogoodbye is doing with its catchy, thoughtful tunes.

Everything Is Debatable is available worldwide on October 29. Find more on Hellogoodbye on the band's official Facebook page.

Watch This: Pentatonix - "Royals"

Everything acapella powerhouse Pentatonix does makes me grin from ear to ear (I refuse to apologize for that wordplay), and its latest cover of Lorde's "Royals" is no exception. There's plenty to analyze here: let's start with the music. Mitch Grassi is in his element carrying the song's verses, touching on the thinly veiled bitterness of Lorde's original performance but imbuing the little ups and downs with glee, while Kirstie Maldonado and Scott Hoying add dimension and character; group beatboxers Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola (no doubt helped by the great production values) absolutely stun with their versatility--the way the group takes a bare-bones arrangement and completely owns it is a treat to hear.

The video is just the icing on the cake: there's much to read in it, but essentially the big idea is that this group is the real deal. There are no gimmicks here, no crystals, Maybachs, diamonds on timepieces--just five incredibly talented young musicians showing what they've got and inspiring everybody who watches. When they reach the heights of the chorus and shout "Let me be your ruler!" you can only oblige.

If you haven't already (and really, how have you not?), go check out everything on Pentatonix's YouTube page. Right now. Do it. Then go to the group's Facebook page and order PTX Volume 2, its upcoming new release.

Watch This: Jake Bellows - "I Know You"

On his recent album New Ocean, Jake Bellows wraps gentle sentiments in sunny songs unearthed from his backyard: it's music both modern in its fusion of genre and nostalgic in its temperament, full of yearning and hope. His new video for single "I Know You" brings out these strengths. Like waves crashing on an isolated shoreline, the song's clickety-clack rhythms persist alongside Bellows as he reaches out, while the guitar is campfire intimate and the warbly flourishes of psychedelic-rock intoxicate. The video, on the other hand, is wholly innocent, documenting the adorable romance of two chimpanzees by cutting together old footage from The Prelinger Archives. Wisely, it plays on the emotional juxtaposition of the chimps' carefree happiness with Bellow's heavier thoughts, making for something that's thought-provoking and contemplative even as it's charming and humorous.

Find more on Jake Bellows at his official website.

Watch This: Tom Lark - "Go Get A Job"

People do all sorts of things when they're unemployed; New Zealand singer-songwriter Tom Lark wrote a song about his time. A nasty, piss-filled water balloon of a song (albeit with one helluva chorus) aptly titled "Go Get A Job." The way Lark snarls that titular slur is worth the price of admission alone, but the video does it one better by making his satirical tirade the soundtrack for a bank heist gone awry. Everything you could want is here: the Batman costume, police brigade and even the token girl-next-door.

The video's smartest decision is its progression in scenery. By the end we've gone from the confines of an anonymous roof to vibrant, spacious beach sands. To any job seeker who has ever fallen victim to the ignorant condescension of looker-ons, "Go Get A Job" will feel just as liberating.

More on Tom Lark at his Facebook page.

Watch This: f(x) - "Rum Pum Pum Pum"

Looks like the trend of the summer in Korea is girl groups toning down the tough to get to something sweet. 2NE1 did it with "Falling In Love," and I think this is another good example of how to do it properly. Those guitar strums and marching drums driving the verses are straight out of a Western, and the ladies of f(x) handle those passages with style, swaying their bodies with deceptively assured poise. But then they'll get to that hook--the explosive RUM PUM PUM PUM PUM--and without missing a beat, they'll segue right into a series of playground antics: starting improptu games of patty cake, stomping down the sparkly dance floor, wagging their fingers at each other like friends that have become something closer to sisters. It's a balance between mystique and friendship which "Rum Pum Pum Pum" pulls off perfectly.

As for the music? Well, if the snappy hints of golden-age Britney cheerleader pop don't suck you in, those luscious, sticky harmonies in the chorus certainly will.

Watch This: 2NE1 - "Falling In Love"

Like many pop groups, 2NE1 tends to focus on love; unlike many pop groups, however, it espouses the gospel of love as empowerment. "I Am The Best" takes themes of self-confidence and sharpens them into a dance-floor stomper brimming with swag. Meanwhile, last year's hit single "I Love You" dwells on the pain of longing but in its last minute cauterizes its own wounds with a sudden blast of electronica--not coincidentally, it's only when rapper CL declares "I LOVE YOU EVERYDAY! DON'T GET AWAY! TAKE ME AWAY!" that the girls can finally soar, unburdened from self-doubt and questioning.

New single "Falling In Love" is yet another fresh take on 2NE1's unique brand of powerful but all-too-relatable pop. The group has tapped into its kinship to reggae and hip-hop in equal measures, which is why the tropical guitar melodies wield so much force when the trap beat's bolstering them. Likewise, the lyrics explore feelings of vulnerability, of being "lost in the streets of love" and powerless to desire, but they're delivered with such sparkle and wit that you forget who's falling for who (one particularly charming moment in the chorus illustrates being stunned speechless through onomatepoeia).

The video illustrates this well: alternating between three different locations, it shows off a host of different sides to the group. They're feminists who'd rather bump booties than measure them, ladies with the power and agency to go for what they like, and individuals whose identities supersede repressive dichotomies of flighty emotion versus calculated reason, girly girl versus tomboy, grotesque loner versus trophy wife. No wonder the subject of 2NE1's affections only exists in fleeting glimpses: "Falling In Love" is really about the empowerment inherent in allowing yourself to fall, and surrendering to the gravity of our emotions has rarely sounded and looked so sweet.

"Falling In Love" is available on iTunes right now. You ready?

Watch This: Pogo - "SquareBob SpongeMix"

Online mashup star Nick Bertke, better known as Pogo, has made a career out of crafting relics of our childhoods into trippy, mellow soundscapes: his latest target is Spongebob Squarepants. The fruit of his labors, "SquareBob SpongeMix," is a gently uplifting dance track true to the spirit of the show. As always, Pogo makes great use of soundbites (cleverly positioning the cadence of the show's dialogue to create some super-jazzy rhythms), and much like the source material, he keeps the mood light and sunny--yet the levity only works thanks to the thoughtful, mature melodies he brings out. The moral of the story? Childhood may be gone, but it's never too late to revisit Bikini Bottom, especially with a soundtrack like this.

And no, Patrick, mayonnaise is not an instrument. Horseradish is not an instrument either.

Watch This: Rare Monk - "Underground"

Oregon indie-rock band Rare Monk strikes a careful balance between icy detachment and swelling sentimentality, and "Underground," the first single off of its first (and fantastic) LP, Sleep/Attack, plays wonderfully with it. The track may be built on a cagey beat and some heavily synthesized vocals, but the meat of the track is the tangled explosion of strings and drums that illustrate the consequences of, as the chorus goes, waiting 'till your emotions burst out. The video goes even further with this dichotomy, cutting from shots establishing an uneasy serenity to short, powerful bursts of vicious carnage in the choruses. Unsettling implications arise when the protagonist reaches his breaking point and begins to spill blood, as the muted colors of the video suddenly give way to vivid reds and faded golds--and the moon makes way for a sunrise. Waking up in this nightmare world may be ill-advised, but those who can make their way out of the dirt just might find something--or somebody--worth coming back to life for.

Rare Monk's debut is available everywhere now.

Watch This: Deerhunter Debut New Music on Jimmy Fallon

Every generation needs their rock and roll eccentrics. These characters, your Mark E. Smiths and your Frank Zappa's for example, seem to exist outside the context of hype and cool and trends while simultaneously defining those things in the eyes of the public. They’re not part of movements because they are movements - definitive archetypes of their own with legions of loyal followers who think that most of the other slop that comes out of the general underground is crap. If we’ve got one of these, it simply has to be Bradford Cox. He’s got all the hallmarks - Just take a look at this performance with his band Deerhunter on Jimmy Fallon the other night. First thing’s first - he’s wearing a wig. For those of you unfamiliar with Brad, that’s not his regular hair. He’s playing a character, Connie Lungpin, a regular slice of early-'70s Bowie androgyny if I ever saw one, except that Bowie put on characters to fit these vague narratives he drew over his records. As far as we know, Connie is completely purposeless. I would like to also note that Cox (Lungpin) seems to be missing two fingers, apparently a ‘tribute’ to his father, who lost several fingers in a sawing accident. Hm.

Watch This: Pentatonix and Lindsey Sterling - "Radioactive"

Superstar acapella quintet Pentatonix has always been a dynamic force on its own, but in this cover of Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive," the power of collaboration propels its sonic force into a completely different solar system. The group recruited violinist Lindsey Stirling to play with here, a smart choice considering both artists' philosophies: in recent years, Pentatonix has made acapella hip again with innovative arrangements, an abundance of personality, and a willingness to mix genres like SyFy villains mix chemicals, while Stirling has been integrating her rowdy string playing into songs that sound like they got lost on their way to the Billboard charts.

The cover is arranged in a way where the vocals and instrumentals dance around each other in subtle but powerful ways. It's an intelligent rendition of the original, never losing sight of the mounting urgency depicted in its lyrics or the pandemonium of its climax (try and see if you can catch each individual voice in the ending--easier said than done). The video is a visual treat as well; the post-acopalyptic setting is washed-out but dripping in atmosphere, while the composition--tense shots of strings stirring back and forth, shots of isolated survivors singing to themselves, Scott Hoying staring into the basement of your soul--conveys an undeniable sense of dread building within each character before everybody comes together in the explosive chorus. It's at once a world removed from our own and one strangely tethered to it nevertheless, a warning of where things might be headed come 2025 wrapped up in elegant pop hooks and soulful choral vocals. And if these folks have it their way, things might go nuclear before long.

Both Pentatonix and Lindsey Stirling are on tour, so go check 'em out. You can also subscribe to their YouTube pages here (and journalistic objectivity aside, you really should):

Pentatonix
Lindsey Stirling

Watch This: Ólafur Arnalds - "Old Skin"

Ólafur Arnalds' music plays out a wonderful duality between the pain of isolation and the multitudes contained within ourselves: it is often hard to tell if the stirring climaxes he reaches are meant to be uplifting or sad. So it goes with "Old Skin," one of the standout tracks from his upcoming LP, For Now I Am Winter. The accompanying music video, which I am told is his first live-action feature, beautifully illustrates the dichotomy at the center of Arnalds' work as it follows a senile lightguard keeper going about his daily routine. The video takes its time letting us get acquainted with him, as the camera settles on his inscrutable face as he calculates the significance of every next step he has to take; later on, this choice proves critical. There's a lot of focus on surfaces in this video, from the glassy ponds dotting the landscape to the bubbling cup of coffee that the old man stares into, and just as the song slowly unravels its fragile foundation of strings and piano to reveal a thumping heartbeat at its core, the video delves into the depths of the water to reveal a different world, one of radiant, colorful abandon. Yet the climax only muddles the meaning even further: even as our hero finds himself in the midst of camaraderie, his expression only appears lost in a horde of faces he does not know. Meanwhile, guest vocalist Arnór Dan repeats his refrain, "In these hands I'll hide," and piles on layer upon layer of counterpoint, all clashing to the point of incomprehension but all absolutely essential in the moment. By the ending, most viewers will be left with more questions than answers, but to be honest, some questions are better left unanswered--especially if the results are as gorgeously compelling as this.

You can watch the video for "Old Skin" above. For Now I Am Winter is set to release in the United States on April 2.

Watch This: Shane Koyczan - "To This Day"

Watch This is a new feature highlighting the intersection between music and film. Not only will we be taking a look at some of the best new music videos around, we'll also be looking around us to see the many ways in which music can bring people together in everyday life.

Anybody who's ever been bullied knows how hard it is to deal with the cruelty that comes with adolescence; what is even harder to deal with is the repercussions it can have on your life. That doesn't mean, however, that you're in this alone. Spoken-word poet Shake Koyczan, whose poem "To This Day" was shaped by his own experiences with bullying, collaborated with a litany of animators and motion artists to create this moving video for it.