Johann Rashid, better known as Promiseland give us “Personal Reflecktor” — an atmospheric, ultra-noir, stylish and synth-heavy throwback to a defiant present and a mysterious future. The visuals for the first single off their debut album are an extravaganza play on reality, almost an exaggerated retro dream, where everybody seems to be more than fine with whatever is happening to them. No one questions their existence, their sudden awakening and understanding of their possibilities, and ominous presence in life. As “Personal Reflektor” starts, we are right away enchanted right by the iconic strut through an underground train platform of four friends who are later sitting around a couch watching a movie. In this movie, Rashid is playing a thief who walks into an old video shop and steals a lot of DVD’s. Talk about a culture shock for the group of friends, who cannot understand the concept of the video shop and ask “Why didn’t they use Netflix, wey?” This is when we start flipping thought realities and engaging with imagery of horror and science-fiction, intertwined. Which of these scenarios are real life? What do we believe in? Johann Rashid, who directed the video, develops an unique and intricate dialogue between the characters and the song. “Personal Reflektor” boasts in retrospection and pulsates in arrangements that are minimalist yet haunting. Rashid enhances our emotions through retro-futurism and the unknown. Daniella Valdez, singer in the band Sahd Wyte Guyz, also delivers a performance of her own, while she mimics and blows into finger guns giving her best cowgirl a confident try. At the end, Rashid bleeds and crawls through a bridge, and fails to let go of the past, holding to a pack of DVD’s — a full body shock of denial, vulnerability and adrenaline.
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