Video of The Day: Bonander

There's a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video of The Day are a cut (or two) above.

There are plenty of women who, over the course of centuries, have been forgotten. But Sweden's Bonander (Ellinor Sterner Bonander) wants us to start remembering. In this video for her delightfully dark pop creation "Smile," Bonander highlights the faces of a number of Swedish women from the 19th and 20th centuries, namely: Ada Nilsson, Anna Margret Holmgren, Anna Whitlock, Elin Wägner, Elise Ottesen Jensen, Elsa Laula, Ester Blenda Nordström, Karin Boye, Karolina Wideström, Kata Dahlström, Katarina Taikon, Lili Elbe, Siri Derkert, and Sofia Gumaelius. Eventually, the masks come off, showing a gamut of modern-day women who are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.

The song itself takes inspiration from a common theme in womanhood. Or, as Bonander puts it, "to ask a woman to smile and stay 'pretty' is just one example of the pain we aren’t allowed to show to the world, a pain that is ignored and often forgotten. No more." It's a strong sentiment, and a strong song. "Smile" has serious bite, midnight machinations and Bonander's smoky, theatrical vocals unified perfectly and protesting in their own way.

[posted 3.21.18]