Dezeen Magazine

Music video for James' new single Moving On is a stop-motion meditation on life and death

Dezeen Music Project: a character made from yellow wool unwinds in this heart-wrenching stop-motion music video created by animator Ainslie Henderson for UK band James.

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

Henderson's video for James' new single Moving On, which was written about the death of lead singer Tim Booth's mother, cuts between two scenes featuring characters made entirely from yellow wool.

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

As a young woman dances care-free in one scene, a character in hospital gradually slips away in another, the wool they're made from unravelling in front of a loved-one, who is powerless to stop it.

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

"I'm on the phone to Tim and he is describing how they came to write this song," Henderson explained. "Some days later this conversation echoes around my mind while I'm listening to Moving On."

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

"I walk past a typical Scottish woollen knitwear shop. My eyes flit over a ball of wool in the window while the word 'unwinding' is sung. Pretty quickly I'm leaving a garbled, over-excited message on Tim's phone about the music video I have in my head."

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

Moving On is the first single taken from James' forthcoming album La Petite Mort, which will be released in June, 28 years after the release of the band's 1986 debut album Stutter.

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James

"I feel delighted with what we’ve achieved," said Henderson. "I think we’ve made something kind of special. I feel so honoured to have been able to contribute something, in my own small way, to this magical thing that is James."

Music video by Ainslie Henderson for Moving On by James