Sometimes our favorite musical artists like to indulge a little in the fantastical. There are tons of super creative and innovative sci-fi music videos out there. We’ve got everything from animation to comedy to dystopian horror. So let’s take a gander at some of the weird, wacky and wild sci-fi music videos out there. Commenters, do you have any favorites you’d like to share?
'Many Moons' by Janelle Monae
Janelle Monae’s music doubles as sci-fi performance art. Her songs tell the story of Cindi Mayweather, an android living in a futuristic technocracy where she is considered lesser and her rights are limited. When she falls in love with a human, the government comes to take her out and through her defiance, she quickly becomes the leader of a robo-revolution.
“Many Moons” is the most elaborately sci-fi of Janelle’s music videos. It shows Cindi performing at a show where androids are sold and bid on. An army of Janelle Monae androids catwalk and horse-ride down the stage. The audience is made up of a beautifully costumed and utterly bizarre futurist bourgeoisie and Cindi’s song pleading for freedom goes right over their heads. Monae makes clear social commentary in the video, using old black and white clips of civil rights protests and riots to parallel the unjust situation the androids are trapped in.
“Harder, Better, Faster” by Daft Punk
Daft Punk is a band that is super committed to the sci-fi aesthetic, even going so far as to masquerade as robots in public. In fact, their commitment went so far that they collaborated with Leji Matsumoto and Toei Animation to produce a sci-fi animated movie that functioned as a visual realization of their album Discovery back in 2003. The movie was called Interstella 5555: The 5tory of a 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. The movie tells the story of a blue-skinned alien pop band who are kidnapped by earthlings.
Each separate song from the album was fully animated as a section of the movie and Daft Punk has released those sections as complete music videos. “Harder, Better, Faster” is the best video for showing off the charming weirdness of the movie, as the the blue aliens are brainwashed and transformed into humans in an incredibly elaborate and implausible ritual. My favorite part is when they just paint over their blue skin.
“Sometimes I Feel So Deserted” by The Chemical Brothers
“Sometimes I Feel So Deserted” is a visually stunning and incredibly disconcerting tale of a broken down cyborg lady roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland, looking desperately to repair herself so she can rain terror down on any humans who dare mess with her. The effects for the whole thing are really raw and excellent and the whole video sticks with you as an unforgettable slice of science fiction horror. But it’s definitely not for the squeamish- there’s some intense body horror going on from the outset and tons of gross robot dismemberment.
"He^rt" by Starcadian
The "He^rt" video was honored as a Vimeo staff pick and it’s easy to see why. The whole thing is delightfully retro, shot in a flickering, static-y style reminiscent of old VHS tapes. We follow an astronaut in a super old-school looking space ship that has a picture of an 8-track tape for a logo. There are some absolutely gorgeous shorts of the galaxy on the way.
"Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
We get to see some music greats team up in this black-and-white video from the 90’s. Watch Michael and Janet jam in a spaceship and face off against each other in video games. There’s also a random clip of anime on a TV screen at one point, so that’s cool.
“Q.U.E.E.N” by Janelle Monae
I can’t help but feature Janelle twice on this list, I really love her stuff. This is my favorite song by her- it’s catchy, full of power and has some charged social criticism. And the video for it takes place in a time travel museum. Hearing “It’s hard to stop rebels that time travel” in that super posh English voice at the beginning of the video makes me laugh every time.
"All is Full of Love" by Bjork
This video shows a robot getting constructed as Bjork sings a haunting ballad about love. The effects are pretty good. Seeing Bjork’s face on a robot gives a super uncanny valley vibe that actually really works for the video. Also: robots making out.
"Break Free" by Ariana Grande ft. Zedd
I included this one because it’s so completely ridiculous and thus makes me crack up every time. In between sexy poses, we see Ariana Grande liberate her fellow prisoners in space. At one point, she casually flips her hair at one point and then her boobs turn into rockets and take out an alien. It’s amazing.
"On Your Mark" by Chage and Aska
This music video animated by Hayao Miyazaki himself is the sweetest treat of all. It tells a story of a futuristic underground society where two policemen take in a winged girl and turn her over to the laboratory where she will be experimented on. Then they realize that’s pretty messed up and decide to free her instead.
The whole thing is done in the trademark expressive and beautiful Studio Ghibli animation. We have Miyazaki’s favorite themes of environmentalism (humans seem to have been forced underground because they irradiated the planet) and flying, along with exciting car chases, a non-linear narrative and an adorable story of friendship.
"Different Colors" by Fantastic Plastic Machine
This super cute video was animated by Mamoru Hosada, who was behind the anime movie Summer Wars. It depicts a little girl trying to retrieve her cellphone, only to be swallowed by a strange creature and fall into a colorful and visually appealing digital world. The whole thing is a joy to look at.