It’s been a bit too long since we heard from Ilya Popenko’s collective Mad Meg, but Popenko is back with another dark, humorous, and perfectly timed video for the song “Zombie CV.” The single itself adds some spice to Popenko’s already effective brand of anti-folk with sparse piano backings and light drum work, but let’s talk about the video.
These days, you hear the word AI, and you’ll find most of the people around you writhing in fear. To a point, it’s to be expected – there is a very real possibility that a large percentage of people’s livelihoods could be automated, and not necessarily in the distant future. But Popenko has managed to do what the majority of people interacting with AI have failed to do, which to create something that feels like a true meeting of minds, not just throwing around mud and playing god. As much as we enjoy that.
Popenko’s autobiographical lyrics reliably command steadfast attention with a thick accent and vivid storytelling, but what’s so interesting about the video is the way the AI gives his narrative an entirely new life, which we almost mean quite literally – check out the video below:
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It’s also a good point to bring up that this is a case of an artist using the power of artificial intelligence to elevate their vision. Sure, he could have hired child actors, kid actors, teen actors, adult actors, geriatric actors, and a couple corpses to portray the stages of life, but think for a moment of the cost, and that was just the people to appear on camera – you’ve also got to think about the crew, effects, marketing, etc. Is that a workload independent artists should realistically expect to be throwing around, let alone have the budget for? Who knows, maybe for some that wouldn’t be a problem, but we know a lot of independent musicians, and can maybe count on one hand the amount of people rolling that deep in dough. A.I. can absolutely help creative people in processes such as this, and many more. This isn’t the kind of artificiality you need to be worried about – this is the kind of sprawling, wide-open new world we could explore together in harmony once we balance hard work with automation.
Anyway. We ended up listening to the song a lot without listening to the video, so if it really irks you, you can do that and you’ll still have a great time. But overall this thought-provoking combo was an affirmation, and we hope you see it that way too.
(Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more music, check out our Bandcamp compilations here. If you like us, or possibly even love us, donations are always appreciated at the Buy Me A Coffee page here, but if you’re in a generous mood you can also donate to folks like Doctors Without Borders, the PCRF, and Best Friends Animal Shelter that could probably use it more. Thanks again!)