London based artist XATIVA reveals first release in two years ‘You’re A Mistake’
Teaming up with London born queer filmmaker and photographer Ben Cole (Odunsi, Franz Ferdinard, Boy George, Dolce & Gabbana, SKYN, Vogue), this is a partnership sent straight from heaven.
XATIVA’s new release is a captivating single that requires your full attention. Instantly able to leave you sticking the track on repeat, this feels like an instant classic.
As for many other people around the world, the pandemic induced lockdowns brought XATIVA periods of prolonged isolation. It was during this time that XATIVA, still grappling with the core subjects of love and loss, began to piece together and record Fly Away, her second EP, at Soup Studios in London with Giles Barrett (Alfa Mist, Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd).
Speaking about the lead single ‘You’re A Mistake’, XATIVA shares, “A central theme of ‘You’re A Mistake’, and the project as a whole, is the seeming contradiction of the frustration of falling for someone who is wrong for you, but at the same time the powerful feelings of love that still draw you towards them.”
The accompanying video, directed by Cole and starring The Irregulars’/Sex Education’s Jojo Macari and Alice Bird, explores how these conflicting feelings can surface at the end of a relationship.
Set in a surrealist landscape ever shifting from monochrome to vibrant hues of yellow and orange, the video interweaves moments of intimacy with others of destruction.
Cole’s defining glam horror aesthetic, combined with an array of ominous head sculptures, designed by artist David Hochhauser, creates a perfect dark and dreamlike world, wherein the complex and at times sinister undertones of a breakup can be felt.
