Burberry, Craig Green, Acne, Fendi, Diesel, Stefan Cooke — for some this is a dream Christmas list, for Kaito Defoort aka Gaiko it represents a portion of shows that this young musician walked in his early career as a model. But, since 2020 his relationship to brands and work has changed. He collaborated creatively with Loewe through music composition as well as adding TV and film music to his CV. Today marks the release of the first single from his debut album, due out via Dutch label Nous'Klaer Audio on February 14th.
Gaiko, the album title and musician’s name, is translated by Word Hippo as diplomacy, popping up similarly in Gaikokujin which means foreign country person, as the artist points out. He chooses the stem from a less politically charged word. The video Martyr, released today by the Belgium-Japanese musician, picks up on codes of the Belgium underground and explores one story of a woman experiencing insomnia. The film is funded by Federation of Wallonia — Brussels, associated with the government, but like many musicians before Gaiko, who have gratefully accepted this sort of investment, the video remains realistic and critical of lived realities in his home. The video is above all edgy, with dark, gloomy lighting and sound design that nods to London’s Burial.
The director of the video, Fernando Vandekeybus’ comment released with the piece reads, "We shot this video using a Snorricam to stay intimately connected to a young woman as she wanders through the streets of Brussels at night, restless from insomnia. Her sleepless walk takes her through the hidden, aesthetically rich corners of the city, and the Snorricam allows us to stay close to her emotions, immersing the viewer in her raw experience and the atmospheric beauty of Brussels after dark." We can’t help but think of disorientating scenes in Requiem For a Dream that make use of the same film technique, keeping us close to the actor and their unravelling. Immersive and sensitive this is a touching portrait of one reality of Belgium’s youth.