THUGWIDOW & Bruised Skies invoke creeping horror with ‘I Need It’

Drawing inspiration from late ’90s horror, directors Karo Rutkowska and Ezekiel follow a young man possessed by the spirit of a sinister rave.

‘I Need It’ is the spooky opening salvo from Blimey, ambient jungle iconoclast THUGWIDOW and horror show sound designer Bruised Skies‘ debut outing on Sherelle and Naina’s heavy hitting Hooversound Recordings. Building on the dread depths and dark euphoria of their first collaborative project, Requiem For A Sesh, on Blimey the two producers delve even deeper into the most shadowy corners of early ’00s breakbeat, computer virus jungle, bolshy techno and devilish UKG. The result is an immersive sound designed to envelop and overwhelm, a quality directors Karo Rutkowska and Ezekiel explore in their creeping visual for ‘I Need It’, the first music video released by Hooversound Recordings. In a spiritual sequel to their visual for THUGWIDOW & Bruised Skies’ track ‘Thrashing, Scared, Alone’, the directors draw inspiration from iconic late ’90s horror cinema, following a young man who becomes possessed by the spirit of a sinister, clandestine rave.

“From the very beginning we knew we wanted to create a storyline which followed the journey of a male protagonist to a rave but with a slight twist,” explain the directors. “The horror genre is instantly established in the opening sequence when the camera pans around the run down, old-fashioned flat of the protagonist which you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a young man like him. As the song progresses we see the protagonist making his way in to the club and dancing alone. We decided to take the video further down the abstract-horror route during the second and final climax of the song.” Flickering between stroboscopic footage of bodies writhing through thick smoke and a chilling vision of our protagonist dancing alone in a dark room, the true nature of the gathering is called into question.

“This was purposefully done to make the viewer question the reality of the protagonists perspective,” the directors continue. “It also alludes to the idea that this rave was a sort of sacrificial ceremony leading up to the protagonist’s abduction. The abduction is further hinted during the closing scene when we see the protagonist back to where it all started, without any visuals on how he got home. The song ends with the protagonist staring blankly at the camera with a sinister smirk and then falls asleep in a peculiar position which references ‘The Creation of Adam’ by Michelangelo (1512), highlighting the idea of new life or being a different person after his abduction.” Perfectly encapsulating the eerie dissociation of returning home from a particularly loose session, THUGWIDOW, Bruised Skies, Karo Rutkowska and Ezekiel have developed an evocative audiovisual language for articulating both the hedonism and the grit of some of the UK’s subterranean party scenes, where good and bad vibes become indistinguishable from one another.

‘I Need It’ is taken from Blimey, which is out now on Hooversound Recordings. For more information about THUGWIDOW you can check out their SoundCloud and follow them on Instagram. For more information about Bruised Skies, you can check out their SoundCloud and follow them on Instagram.

You can find Karo Rutkowska on Instagram and at their website. You can find Ezekiel on Instagram and at their website.

‘I Need It’ Credits:

Directors – Karo Rutkowska & Ezekiel
DOP – Peter Butterworth
Talent – Archie Henderson
Assistant – Maggie Lukasiak
Graphics – Taavi Kelle