AstralwerksHalsey‘s new single, “Now or Never,” arrived Tuesday, accompanied by a dramatic video that plays like a short film, or part of one.
The visual begins with a bearded priest instructing what appear to be warring gangs, “In a city so empty of it, there are two that possess love. We must help them. You have been chosen — make peace. They may save us all.”
The video, shot in Mexico City and directed by Halsey and Sing J Lee, follows the protected lovers as they travel by motorcade to a Tarot reading predicting an interference with the love. Ultimately, a gun battle breaks out during which the girl, played by Halsey, escapes, leaving her surviving lover behind.
“The video for ‘Now or Never’ (my directorial debut!) is one part in the center of a long narrative that tells the story of two people in love despite the forces trying to keep them apart,” Halsey says in a statement.
The single is the first from Halsey’s forthcoming album, hopeless fountain kingdom, and she promises there’s more in store for the characters, adding, “in the context of the hopeless fountain kingdom universe, the stakes are much higher for these two star-crossed lovers.”
hopeless fountain kingdom is due on June 2.
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