Young Knives share animated video for ‘Jenny Haniver’

Young Knives have unveiled a psychedelic video for their single ‘Jenny Haniver’.

The track is taken from ‘Barbarians’, the fifth album from the band and their first since 2013’s ‘Sick Octave’.

The animated clip was created by Iman Mahdy, a member of the London-based BLKbrd Collective whom the brothers met through the Women’s Music Project in Oxford.

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“We were struggling when it came to the concept for the video because we make quite grotesque videos in general, and we really felt like it was time to hand it to someone else who would be able to bring out something different in the story,” the band’s Henry Dartnall explained in a press statement.

“Iman’s illustrations and animation style has such a dream-like quality, and a real touch of something beautiful even in the weirdest of creatures, it felt like the perfect match.”

Watch the surreal, nautical-themed video below.

“The song itself is about perceptions of beauty,” Dartnall continued. “The female lead in the song is in one way, only there because it came from the name of the strange mixed-up creatures that appeared in Victorian side shows.

“But in another way the female lead is central to the concept of the song because we are two men who have grown up during a time when the attitude towards women has been continually challenged and discussed.

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Dartnall explained that the song represented “a reflection on the traditional view of women in relationships, and perhaps the old-fashioned male gaze and ‘phwoar’ culture” in society.

“As with most of our songs we are just playing with the words and not making any kind of point; it isn’t activism, it’s a reflection on the experiences of these things by two middle-aged white fellas,” he added.

The duo will support the record with a rescheduled London show in March. Original tickets remain valid.