Exclusive Video Premiere: IAMX, ‘Happiness’

In some circles, British musician Chris Corner is best known as a founding member of '90s trip-hop outfit Sneaker Pimps. But in more modern circles, he's known as IAMX – his electro-pop alter ego with five albums to his name since emerging about a decade ago and a sixth – Metanoia – on the way. Diffuser is extremely proud to exclusively present the video for the upcoming album's lead single, "Happiness."

Corner told us the song was actually something of an "afterthought" during the recording process. "'Happiness' was the last song to be recorded," he said. "The album was pretty much complete but I felt something simple and fundamental was missing. The irony being that the afterthought became the first single."

Corner launched IAMX while living in Berlin and, although he's since moved to Los Angeles, he said the core of "Happiness" came from the depression he fell into while living in Germany. "One of the symptoms of depression is an addiction to rumination," he said. "The vicious cycle of negative thinking that strips us of energy and desire. It is precisely our obsession with working out what makes us unhappy that makes us unhappy. In this case, my own preoccupation with corruption and hypocrisy in the world is a recurring theme that is very difficult  for me to let go of. Writing about it becomes part of my therapy. All songwriting is therapy. This is just a little more specific."

As for the video, Corner said he wanted it to be a corresponding visual element that worked hand-in-hand with the song. "The visual side of IAMX is very important to me," he said. "I love experimenting with live visuals for our tours. That's how I learned to edit, so I decided that might be a nice way to go with the video for 'Happiness.' My first lazy idea was to just rehash old visuals and piece them together, but the quality was mixed and I felt the song demanded something cleaner and more modern. I wanted the abstract images to create their own story, to flow without forcing some kind of concept. Videos that try to tell some kind of story or make a clever moral point always often disappoint me. My motivation was to complement the music with something that the viewer can immerse themselves in without a predictable structure. To slow the world down and give a feeling of weight, disorientation and beauty."

Check it out above.

IAMX Fall Tour Dates:

10/6 Costa Mesa,CA – Constellation Room
10/7 San Diego.CA – The Casbah
10/9 Los Angeles,CA – Fonda Theater
10/10 San Francisco,CA – Great American Music Hall
10/12 Portland,OR – Wonder Ballroom
10/13 Seattle,WA – Neumo’s
10/16 Salt Lake City,UT – Urban Lounge
10/17 Denver,CO – Marquis Theater
10/19 Minneapolis,MN – Varsity Theater
10/20 Chicago,IL – Bottom Lounge
10/22 Detroit,MI – The Shelter
10/23 Toronto,ON, CAN – Lee’s Palace
10/24 Montreal,QC, CAN – Virgin Mobile Corona Theater
10/26 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
10/27 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
10/29 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
10/30 New York, NY – Webster Hall