Adding another layer of introspection as the sixth track on Yves’ Soft Error: X, the long-awaited “Ex Machina” comes with a visual memo playing out a story of vulnerability and delicate destruction.
After performing the song on her Cosmic Crispy Tour earlier this year—including the Manila stop in September—Yves finally released “Ex Machina” last October 15. It serves as the title track of Soft Error: X, the deluxe version of her third EP, Soft Error, released last August.
“Ex Machina” is said to be an exploration of the relationship between humans and robots and the limits of consciousness. It speaks of a longing to converse with “you on the other side,” referring to the hazy boundary between reality and illusion. Notably, this song marks the first time Yves is credited as a songwriter and producer on one of her own songs as a solo artist, alongside PAIX PER MIL producer IOAH.
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The violence of love
Shot in a style reminiscent of surreal filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos, Yves and actress Kwon Ipse star in the accompanying “visual memo.” Yves plays the robot yearning for understanding, fragile yet beloved, while Ipse plays the human in control.
The video starts with a blindfolded Yves. She is led to the home of an unknown woman (Kwon Ipse), who cares for her as she gropes for her surroundings. The video proceeds in black and white, showing scenes that hint at a deep and intimate relationship between the two. Yves comes to know only this woman, and sees the world through her eyes.
I can’t get this out of my head
I’m wide awake, alive
In the farthest depths of my mind
One and only in life, just for you
When Yves takes off her blindfold, her eyelashes unfold in long white strings, similar to that of a marionette’s, indicating that what she sees, literally and figuratively, is tied to and controlled by the human.
For a time, the two women enjoy being together freely, their expressions betraying genuine warmth and love. However, it isn’t until the woman directs Yves to shoot at a tree that drips with actual blood that their world is filled with color. Violence is what wakes the robot into true consciousness.
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The video continues even after the song ends. Yves, now dressed in all white, brings the woman, now in black, back to the forest. Yves makes the woman kneel and raises a large pickaxe over her head, poised to swing.
The shot changes to show that the two have switched places—the woman is now holding the pickaxe over Yves’ head and is smiling at the camera. We know from their clothes that this is a flashback. The woman has previously performed this same act on a more innocent Yves, who possessed both light and dark qualities before they met, as symbolized by the black and white clothing she wore while blindfolded.
Then, the scene changes again to show Yves back in the place of the attacker, merely copying what her caretaker has taught her and misunderstanding violence as a sign of love.
The video ends with both women sitting side by side in matching pajamas. Yves is once again blindfolded and massaging her shoulder, as though she’d just carried something huge and heavy. She is back under the woman’s control.
Soft, haunting melancholy
I wanna know you
I wanna hold you
I wanna see you
But you just fade away from me
The tragic story of “Ex Machina” is not new. Time and again, humans have historically been proven susceptible to the corruption of power, both in fiction and reality. What is unique about Yves’ version is the layer of softness that surrounds the darkness. The gorgeously shot visual memo and her gentle vocals do not romanticize the cruelty, but rather contextualize it. It shows how the lines between love and violence can blur, until they are unrecognizable from each other.
Known for her unapologetically queer imagery and her knack for combining nostalgia and modernity in her music, Yves’ unique artistic voice shines through in this visual and auditory masterpiece, leaving fans eager to see more of her self-composed work in the future.
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What are your thoughts on “Ex Machina” by Yves?
Source: PAIX PER MIL YouTube Channel, Naver Entertainment, Kwon Ipse (Instagram)
