Cocteau Twin and Bella Union boss Simon Raymonde returns with Snowbird

Simon Raymonde, the boss of much-admired indie label Bella Union and one of the former members of Cocteau Twins, announced the forthcoming debut from his new project Snowbird last year – their album (Moon) was released last month. Having already impressed us with the glacial, fragile melodies of first single Porcelain in late 2013, they return with a new video for All Wishes Are Ghosts, showcasing more of singer Stephanie Dosen's ethereal vocals, with Raymonde's sonic palette comprised of subtle brush-strokes of guitar and piano with gentle, rolling drums. 

The video, directed by Jamie Stone, tells the story of a couple who argue up on a frozen mountain top. Speaking to Bella Union about the video, Stone comments: "When I first listened to Snowbird’s All Wishes are Ghosts, I immediately thought of an old Icelandic play The Outlaw. Written a century ago by a distant ancestor of mine, Jóhann Sigurjónsson, it’s about two outlaw lovers hiding out in the Icelandic mountains. Something about the beautiful but desolate natural landscape combined with a troubled love story felt right for the song."

He continues: "On family excursions to Iceland as a child, I remembered being told about how old stories were 'locked in the landscape.' I used this idea literally in the video, shooting a modern re-imagining of the play in which the characters catch glimpses in the landscape of scenes from a 1918 film adaptation of the same story (Berg-Ejvind och hans Hustru by Victor Sjöström) allowing the ghosts of the past lovers to affect the fate of our modern day couple."