"Formaldehyde" is a song by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

recording group

Editors Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. It was released on 2 September 2013 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, '' The Weight of Your Love'', on a 7" vinyl and as a digital download. Editors' frontman Tom Smith described the song as "a love song. A sugar coated, dissected heart in a jar, blood soaked love song."

Music video

An official music video for the song was released onto

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 8 August 2013. It was directed by

Ben Wheatley Ben Wheatley (born 1972) is an English filmmaker, film editor, and animator. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and tele ...

, a critically acclaimed British feature film director, marking his debut in the music video genre. The video, which was shot in the style of old

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

s, stars Simon Smith and Tilly Gaunt. "We shot on the old sets for

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...

's ''

Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati, based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, playing against t ...

'' in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was quite an experience. The sun is so bright and strong (I've just shot four features in a row in the UK; that kind of thing impresses me!). The mountains look amazing and everywhere you look you feel the vibe of the Spaghetti Westerns," stated Wheatley. "We shot the promo in a day and it was pretty frantic but good fun. We worked with a great bunch of Spanish cowboy/stuntmen/extras who wore the incredibly heavy and awkward masks with good grace. Hopefully one day I will get to return to Almería and shoot a feature film." Kevin Jagernauth of IndieWire wrote that "the results are appropriately freaky. The largely slow-mo video starts off with what appears to be a standard western setting, before some dudes in scary masks show up and the whole thing tips into the surreal by the finale. Yep, sounds like Wheatley."

Track listings

Charts

References

{{authority control Editors (band) songs 2013 singles 2013 songs PIAS Recordings singles Song recordings produced by Jacquire King Songs written by Justin Lockey Songs written by Elliott Williams Songs written by Edward Lay Songs written by Russell Leetch Songs written by Tom Smith (musician)