So Lykke Li dropped a new song bearing the title “No Rest For the Wicked” last month and, like the very worst of the snarky internet commenter crowd, I made Cage the Elephant jokes. Now, after watching the video for that same song, I feel pretty terrible about myself.

The loneliness that Lykke Li laments on the single is even more prevalent in the video – two lovers are separated and, as the last few seconds tick by, there is no reunion in sight. There is no rest, nor an end of loneliness. There is only the lingering shadow of that loneliness. There is no hope. Happy endings are a lie.

The video is directed by Tarik Saleh, whose heart is either tortured or non-existant, if I had to guess. At least it is an unerringly beautiful three-minute clip. Michael Roffman’s naming of the gorgeous-yet-heart-pulverizing Blue Valentine is a top-notch reference for the pretty pain here.

Lykke Li’s new album, I Never Learn, is out May 5. With a title like that, we can safely expect to feel this emotionally wrought at the hands of Lykke Li once more.

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Tyler Hanan

Tyler raves about movies on the Let The Right Films In podcast. Listen to him make jokes over his beleaguered cohost Kayla St. Onge and their more qualified guests who deserve so much better at soundcloud.com/ltrfipod. Find him on Twitter @tylerhanan.

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