admin Lourdes Leon, also known as Lolahol, is honoring where she came from with her latest project. The video for her hypnotic new single “Spelling” is a clear homage to the 26-year-old artist’s mother, Madonna—updating her 1998 classic “Frozen” with a 2023 spin.
“This piece is very special,” Lola captioned an Instagram post of the video, which was released on October 11. Directed by Claire Farin and produced by creative studio Actual Objects design agency (who have also worked with Shygirl, Caroline Polachek and Weyes Blood), the video shows a haunting, witchy Lola floating in the sky before undergoing a spectral metamorphosis, transforming into a murder of crows and a black dog, just as Madonna does in the “Frozen” video.
“I was inspired by the song and music video that I felt most connected to my mom, and that’s ‘Frozen,’” Lola tells W. “This song has come up countless times as connecting the two of us. I don’t know what it is about this song, but it’s always been that. So this video is an homage to this part of her career. There is also a deeply spiritual link to my grandmother on my mother’s side—it’s too sacred to put into words.”
The eerie, blue-toned video was shot in a lush forest in upstate New York. “I was so nervous the first night we got there and remember laying in the grass by the pond, singing The Sound Of Music to make me feel safe and comfortable,” Lola says.
Of the animals she transforms into in the video, Lola says they represent “evolution of self, change and understanding yourself in conjunction with nature and adapting to your surroundings to make things work for you.” Leon has transformed over the years as an artist, serving as a creative director for her mother’s junior’s clothing line and model to the exciting, avant garde performer she is today as Lolahol. She’s also part of Chemical X—a futuristic collective comprised of artists like Eartheater, Ish Couture, Sammy, and Kiri.
“My creative process is informed by my day-to-day life—what I see around me and has stuck with me, what is hitting me right now, as well as what I think will happen in the future,” Leon says. “Over the years I’ve built a really strong community of creative people that I’ve grown with. We’ve seen and been with each other through different creative processes and phases, we know each personally and artistically, and that has allowed me to feel freedom in exploration of my art.”
Watch the video for “Spelling” below:
