Dawn Richard, aka D∆wn, recently described her music as “intergalactic pop fusion.” She made this literal Tuesday (June 14) with the release of “Not Above That,” a virtual reality music video.
Dawn takes us soaring on a spaceship through the cosmos, galactic debris flying through the final frontier, as different iterations of her simultaneously appear. “Instead of just shooting people in 360, we wanted to make you feel presence in another dimension,” Richard told WIRED. “Instead of a VR piece that’s just images, we want to add storytelling to that platform.”
Depending where you toggle in the video, you may see any of these Dawns:
Dancing hologram–Dawn:
Wizard of Oz–head Dawn:
Commander on a monitor–Dawn:
She posted Monday (June 13) on Instagram that she is indie in every sense of the word. “I build my set before I hit the stage. I take it down after the show is done. I drive my crew to each show. And I then get on stage and pour my heart out to you,” she wrote. As such, she is totally in control of her brand. She has seen some success: “Not Above That” hit no. 1 on the iTunes electronic chart when it was released in January.
Dawn is nothing if not an innovator, and we can bet many other artists will follow her lead into immersive storytelling. Just remember this risk-taker was there first. Traverse through the galaxy with her below: