Only a madwoman could pull together these disparate talents for a music video.
Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Laufey dropped the new music video for her single “Madwoman” on Monday (April 13), and it is truly a star-studded affair. The Slim Aarons-inspired video features breakout actor Hudson Williams from Heated Rivalry, Lola Tung of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Olympic champion Alysa Liu and Megan Skiendiel of KATSEYE.
Williams plays the heartthrob and Laufey’s purported love interest while Liu, Tung and Skiendiel portray the singer’s friends. The video begins with the group convening at a mansion for a pool day, during which they’re served cocktails by a gaggle of butlers. The four women are all dressed in bright-colored retro outfits while Williams spends much of the video shirtless in swim trunks—commanding the attention of everyone at the shindig, including the butlers.
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After a dance break and group choreography number, the video transitions to nighttime where Williams and Laufey feign being a happy duo for the cameras but are clearly in the middle of a couple’s spat. Later on, Williams proposes to a conflicted Laufey who fake smiles through the moment as her friends look on and clap. Laufey attempts to escape the situation when everyone at the engagement party but her suddenly freezes. Unfortunately, her escape plan is thwarted and she finds herself back at the house where her friends, with blank eyes and robotic smiles on their faces, creepily welcome her back inside where Williams awaits.
Laufey purposefully built the “Madwoman” cast exclusively with Asian and Asian American stars, citing a desire for greater representation. Asian American actresses Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms) and Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies) even appear on the cover of magazines read by the video’s cast.
“Growing up, I felt a general lack of representation for people who looked like me in music and media. With the ‘Madwoman’ video, I wanted to be that representation,” says Laufey, who is Icelandic and Chinese, in a press statement on the video’s release. “The result is what honestly feels like my absolute dream video and exactly what younger Laufey would have loved to see.”
The Asian and Asian American representation also extends beyond the cast: the music video was directed by Warren Fu, known for working with Dua Lipa, The 1975 and others, with Evaline Wu Huang serving as production designer and Andrew Truong as DP.
“Madwoman” is a single from A Matter of Time: The Final Hour, the deluxe version of Laufey’s Grammy-winning album A Matter of Time. The music video comes after Laufey made her full-set Coachella debut on Saturday (April 11), where she also live debuted the track.
Watch the “Madwoman” music video below.
