Director John Hillcoat, best known for his genre-driven films The Proposition, which was written by Nick Cave, and The Road, has enlisted two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett for his music video for Massive Attack’s “The Spoils,” the title track from the U.K. trip-hop pioneers’ new EP. The clip opens with a stark close-up of the Carol star donning minimal makeup; as the image slowly degrades, so does Blanchett’s famously steely face, first morphing into a plaster cast of her head before gradually turning into a mask with hollow eyes and a wig on top. Ultimately, the actress’s face is unrecognizable, as guest vocalist Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star fame) sings, “I somehow slowly love you/I wanna keep you the same.” By the video’s end, Blanchett has become a digitally rendered bust made of porous rock, eventually so eroded that any trace of her visage has vanished.
The Spoils is the follow-up to January’s Ritual Spirit EP. Massive Attack is performing live throughout Europe this summer. Their landmark debut, Blue Lines, was released 25 years ago this week.
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