VIDEO: Luna Li Releases Ethereal Music Video for 'Afterglow'

Toronto's "moon fairy" and dreamy art-pop artist Luna Li has shared the video for her recent single "Afterglow." The video is the first artist collaboration from HUH, an organization that produces collaborations between artists from different disciplines, and was directed by Rosanna Peng (Travis Scott, Nike, Hypebeast). The "Afterglow" video is streaming now on PlanetHuh.com -- watch.

To celebrate the release, Luna Li and Peng will host a virtual drawing and listening experience exclusively on PlanetHuh.com.

On the collaboration process with Peng and HUH, Luna Li says:

"My music has a dreamy feel, especially as I've been bringing in more harp and violin, so the 'ethereal' mood felt like a perfect fit. For this project, we both wanted to build something that felt otherworldly and magical, that allows people to find something special in small moments. I like to work with other people when it comes to visuals for my music, and I loved working with Rosanna and her interpretation of the "Luna Li" world."

While in quarantine, Luna Li has kept busy releasing new music and sharing hypnotic looping videos on her social media pages. Fans and press alike have been impressed with the results, which have amassed over 3 million views. Exclaim! described her videos as "infectious dream-pop that's full of breezy bass grooves, twinkling harp and soft-rocking fretboard flashiness." Refinery29 recently took note of new single "Trying," noting that it's "loaded with lush instrumentation and truly raw lyrics."

There was never really another option for Toronto's fiercely feminist rock n' roll moon fairy Luna Li. "I always knew that I was going to go into music," she says. Born into a musical atmosphere - her mom taught music - Li started to learn the piano at age five. There was always music in the air about her, she says. In university, she studied classical violin and is also classically trained in both piano and ballet.

Today, through her music Luna Li is making changes to create an inclusive and safe music scene for all people. Her shows aim to create a supportive environment where everyone and anyone can feel welcome. The last year has seen Luna Li support Born Ruffians and Hollerado on their Ontario tour dates, as well as sets at MattyFest (Wu-Tang Clan, The Descendants), River & Sky (U.S. Girls, fed Up), Crystal Lake (Orville Peck), NXNE (Dizzy) and many more.

Most recently, Luna Li performed in 88rising's ASIA RISING FOREVER event that celebrated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Alongside artists such as Rich Brian, Beabadoobee, Mxmtoon, Audrey Luna and more, the online festival received over 7.75M+ livestream views and was #1 trending worldwide on Twitter.

Luna Li is currently working on new music, set for release in 2021. "The themes are definitely a little bit more vulnerable," she says. And it's not locked down by the confines of any one genre, either. She's allowed herself to pull from her classical background and training, she says. "With the new music, we did a lot of orchestral arrangements, a lot of violin, a lot of harp, a lot of vocal harmonies." There's a lot of exploration - within herself and with regards to technique - going on with Luna Li's new work. Ultimately, it's about playing by her own rules and no one else's.

If Luna Li's music is anything, it is unafraid. And being as magical as it is, this should be no surprise. In commune with the universe, Luna Li is an oracle of our times.

HUH is the latest project from Toronto-based creative team Somewherelse; a new online platform that explores creativity through global cities, senses, and moods. It's dubbed as "an evolving experiment in creative collaboration that explores and encourages emotional connectivity between global cities." Via HUH, multi-disciplinary artists from across the globe are paired together to produce a creative collaboration exploring a mood of their choice. Though currently in its prototype phase, eventually users will be able to discover a globe full of multi-sensory contributions from artists around the planet.

The project began as a way to see COVID not as a hindrance to creativity, but an opportunity. As physical distance has been a required norm practically everywhere, everyone globally has been learning to communicate and collaborate exclusively in digital environments.

Photo Credit: Halle Hirota

To post a comment, you must register and login.