Natalia Kills Is Still Trouble In “Saturday Night” Video: Watch

Sam Lansky | July 10, 2013 6:19 am

Natalia Kills has the best song of her career (so far) with “Saturday Night,” and the single’s just received a video treatment that’s appropriately dark, tormented and personal. Past videos have seen Kills toying with edgy themes in a way that feels self-conscious or tongue-in-cheek, but the domestic violence and self-harm in the video for “Saturday Night” are rendered sincerely, and with a sensitivity that must have been tough to maintain amidst all the cinematic melodrama. (She doesn’t ditch the chic outfits, though — she looks as polished and high-concept in her aesthetic as ever.) 

The final moments of the clip make use of real childhood footage of Kills and her family, suggesting that there’s some truth to the fictional narrative at the front end of the video. If so, it makes the video — directed by Kills’ frequent collaborator Guillaume “G.” Doubet — feel all the more haunting. But more than that, it tells the viewer something very personal about Kills, who always felt (to me) more like a series of postures than an artist who was relatable on a human level. As with the song, the video makes her truly vulnerable. It’s the smartest career move she’s made.

Watch up top.