Paris is the setting for Pamela, the new short film from astronauts, etc. frontman Tony Peppers, Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi and the Berkeley-based Company Studio. Peppers is the film’s main character, shrouded in mystique as he courses through the city mindlessly breathing and exploring in a lovelorn state.

The film, which comes across like an elaborate mood builder for the eventual introduction of Peppers and Bear’s new track, “Metropolitan” is shot using a Super 8 camera and is riddled with modern impressionist nostalgia for the most Parisian minutiae: A top floor patio smoke, spooning the foam of a sidewalk cafe cappuccino, a stroll through an art museum, deep breaths over a red wine lunch and having a think seated on the edge of the Seine; all with the same sense of calm.

The cinematography (from Bear and Samantha Sartor) experiments with inside out distance captures. One shot focuses on Peppers walking out onto the street, then zooms out to reveal the building’s full imposing facade. Another begins focused on pages of a book, then pans out to show Peppers reading under a tree in a park. The intention is always to give more windows into the essence of the mind in Paris, from different vantage points.

All in all, Pamela serves as an artistic music video for “Metropolitan,” which plays through the film’s denouement as Peppers’ elegant “Pamela’s Theme” score fades down, into a newfound canvas laid down by cathedral bells. The first official track from Peppers and Bear delves deeper into the David Axelrod-esque psychedelia wormholes that Peppers started digging into on astronauts, etc’s 2018 LP Living In Symbol. With the voice of hypnotic waking life stitched through, “Metropolitan” represents an effective convergence of the enveloping keys of astronauts, etc. with a touch of the Toro y Moi groove and we’re left wanting more. Here’s hoping for it…

A limited run of Pamela on 7″ vinyl and a digital album drop on 4/20. Get it here on Bandcamp.