Coming off the heels of a prolific year — where he released two albums — Shamir directed his first music video for the track “Diet,” which is off of his recently released self-titled album.
The song, which chronicles a killer’s inner thoughts as they flow from wish fulfilment to cannibalism, was inspired by the 2017 film My Friend Dahmer; however, it’s lyrics are more concerned with people’s battles with their darker urges and neurosis, said Shamir in a press release.
In the video, Shamir trades gore for lavish, color-drenched outfits in different locations around Tahoe. He said he knew he wanted to shoot in the California city after going home to Nevada for the holidays
“I had never been to Tahoe and thought it was perfect for the video because of the lyric “just hope that when he dies / it’s outside with a lot of breathing room,” he said.
Shamir noted that the woods in Tahoe closely resembled the woods in Ohio where My Friend Dahmer was filmed.
Christina Thompson, who plays live bass for Shamir, helped him direct, which allowed him to branch away from the limitations of filming inanimate objects.
“Plus it was nice to have someone cheer me on during performance shots,” he said.
The video is a fun portrayal that provides a lighthearted visual partner to accompany the lyrics’ darkness.
And again, the video is worth a viewing even if it’s just for the outfits, which were all from Shamir’s closet.
“I was specifically happy about the blue oversized sweater because I knitted that one myself,” he said.