The Swedish production and songwriting duo NOTD have released their new music video for their single ‘Nobody,’ featuring Catello.
NOTD is made up of Tobias Danielsson and Samuel Brandt, who have been releasing music together since 2016. They started off by maxing remixes of popular tracks by Rihanna and DJ Khaled. The duo has already gained some major success with their song ‘I Wanna Know.’ The single featured Bea Miller, and has been certified platinum multiple times.
The opening scene in the video reminds me of mermaids and sirens, something drawing lonely fisherman in. The protagonist stares longingly into the water, where the girls come up to embrace him. Jumping into the water, he clearly does not know what is real, and what’s a dream. This topic resurfaces throughout the music video.
The lyrics to ‘Nobody’ discuss a toxic relationship that wasn’t good for either side. They both felt as though they wanted and needed a relationship, willing to risk the bad parts. The dance scenes fit perfectly with the context of the lyrics, and the sound of the music.
I am always intrigued when an artist plays around with the concepts of perception and vulnerability. The scene where the protagonist is looking at the scene happening in front of him is a contrast to the song, but gives a sense of understanding when the beat drops. It’s brought up again towards the second chorus, questioning whether all the good times can outweigh the bad ones and if it’s even worth it anymore.
The second verse starts with the lyrics “you got me haunted” as the video progresses to another scene, where the couple embrace each other. It isn’t very common to see music videos that actually tell the story of the music, and much less so in EDM. Creating a story through music, and fulfilling the vision in the video adds to the story in a more complicated way. It’s a perfect way to bring the audience in, wanting to find out more about the musician and their stories.
In the final scene, we return back to where we first started. We are all left wondering: Was it all real, and in the end, was it really worth it? As a longtime fan of NOTD, I can see them following in the footsteps of other great Swedish producers and songwriters.
