OK Go is back with a new music video, and you know that means it’s going to be mind-blowing. Sixteen years ago, they went viral with treadmills in the inventive “Here It Goes Again.” In 2014, the quartet did quirky choreography while riding Honda UNI-CUBs for “I Won’t Let You Down,” then two years later, they shot a whole dance video on an actual plane in zero gravity for “Upside Down & Inside Out.” So how do they top themselves? With the help of robots.
The American rock band has partnered with Universal Robots to bring to life the dazzling concept for their latest, “Love,” a music video for the title track from their new album And the Adjacent Possible. Man and machine dance together and with mirrors in their latest eye-popping video. But how did this all come together?
The exclusive video above takes fans behind the scenes of the shoot in a Budapest train station. The concept for the “Love” video emerged through a partnership with creative agency SpecialGuest, and was co-directed by Damian Kulash (OK Go’s lead singer), Aaron Duffy, and Miguel Espada, and produced by 1stAveMachine, with technology integration by SpecialGuestX.
In a time where controversy brews around emerging tech entering creative spaces, Kulash makes the argument for using these Universal Robots to construct his visual expression. “What I care about is the ability to express an emotion and connect with other humans,” the OK Go frontman explains in the behind-the-scenes video. “And what’s amazing here is I think we’re able to connect with humans in a new way because of the robots. They’re letting us do something that humans simply couldn’t.”
Still, it took time and coordination to get “Love” just right. In a statement, Espada told Mashable, “It took 39 takes to get it right. The robots performed flawlessly — what made it challenging was coordinating 60 people around them in a single, continuous shot. It wasn’t just about precision; it was about creating a choreography where mirrors, machines, and human movement came together to evoke something emotional.”
“Honestly, we almost didn’t get it. It had to be one take — no exceptions,” Andrew Geller, Executive Producer of “Love” from global production company 1stAveMachine shared in a statement. “Thirty industrial robots, all moving in perfect synchronization, with precision angles that left zero room for error. If we were even inches off our marks, the entire sequence would fall apart.”
He went on to champion OK Go and directors Damian Kulash, Aaron Duffy, and Miguel Espada, saying they “pushed this creative to the absolute edge, and watching it all come together — against all odds — was nothing short of magic.”
And the Adjacent Possible is out now.
