Swedish House Mafia releases phone-shot music video in Mexico

Swedish House Mafia and Lykke Li have released the official music video for their single ‘Happiness Is So Sad’. The video was filmed entirely using approximately 25 mobile phones during a house party in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Directed by Theo Lindquist and co-directed by Jorge G. Camarena, the project utilizes multiple phone perspectives to create a fragmented and intimate narrative. The concept aims to explore how different individuals experience the same event through varying, often contradictory, viewpoints. Lindquist noted that the decision to use phones was intended to exploit a ‘new visual language’ that has not been fully utilized in storytelling.

The video’s themes of nostalgia and the transience of happiness were inspired by Lykke Li’s lyrics and the Japanese concept of ‘mono no aware’. The track previously served as a staple during the group’s summer residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza.