Niki N. Phaser

              HIM have premiered the video for Scared to Death, their second single off of February’s release, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. After the dark and animal-filled video for Heartkiller, fans might be surprised by the overdose of daylight and sunshine in this new one. In all fairness, the song is a power ballad and a genuine trademark for the upbeat sound of the new album, so a change in lighting and setting was required. Probably, that’s one of the reasons they decided to shoot in Melbourne, Australia. If you are HIM-savvy, think of the video for Scared to Death as a combination between Gone With the Sin and Pretending. It’s frontman Ville Valo walking around with a guitar in his hand (not flowers) in an urban landscape, this time, filled with modern architecture. No fields or graves. Take a look:

SCARED TO DEATH to look here ?

              Indochine are releasing yet another single from last year’s successful album, La Republique des Meteors, and their choice is quite good: Un Ange à ma Table. Though I was still rooting for Republika, it is great that this track received the special attention of being the fourth single. It’s a fast-paced rocky kind of tune, but it’s still the careening sounds of chorus synths that will stick to your mind. The French idols will be touring their homeland this spring, starting with March, the climax being a monster gig at Stade de France on June 26.

UN ANGE ICI

              HIM premiered their new video, Heartkiller, on MySpace this Friday, where it quickly became the most watched video for the day. This is the Love-Metallers first single off of their highly anticipated new album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, which will be released next month. Embracing a more poppy sound, Heartkiller might just do the trick Ville Valo has hoped for every first single in the past: it gives a taste of the new direction, while still comforting worried fans. A definite departure from the ‘dirty’ sound of Venus Doom, this new material features a resurrection of the more synthy nuances of Dark Light and Razorblade Romance, as Valo himself admits.

The James Copeman (Razorlight, Mystery Jets) directed video features the band in a dark setting, with some flashes of their taxidermied power animals overlapping from time to time. Of course, this is also a chance for Valo to ‘premiere’ his new tattoos, of Maya Deren and Klaus Kinski. Overall, Heartkiller is a decent song, not more, but it does the job: it states that HIM are up and running once again.

HEARTKILLER