Sébastien Tellier’s new music video is a hallucinatory take on domesticity

A brightly suited miniature version of the pop musician bathes in a cereal bowl and dances with rubber gloves in a surreal video created by Valentine Reinhardt

Cover art for Sébastien Tellier single A Ballet
Cover art for Sébastien Tellier’s recent single A Ballet, shot by Valentine Reinhardt

Parisian pop musician Sébastien Tellier has released a surreal music video for his recent single, A Ballet. The video riffs on the themes of “domesticity and artistry” – a nod to the pun at the heart of the track, whose title sounds like the French term for a broom: un balai.

The video follows a miniature version of Tellier as he navigates domestic life, whether kicking back in a bowl of cereal, escaping the wrath of a vacuum cleaner or dancing with rubber gloved hands.

The video and single artwork was created by ongoing collaborator Valentine Reinhardt, who has directed videos for Tellier in the past, and also illustrated all of the album art for his 2014 LP L’Aventura.

“A Ballet is a dreamlike vision of domestic life,” says Reinhardt. “Out of the limelight, Sébastien is so engrossed in household chores that he starts hallucinating. Reduced to a miniature state in his own home, his character wanders and rummages through all the rooms, frightened and amazed at what his daily life has become. Sébastien, the artist, cohabits now with Sébastien, the domestic fairy.”

valentinereinhardt.com