Musician and producer Jesse Harris’s new video may involve fire-eating and contortionists, but it began with a simpler vision: “I knew I wanted ballerinas, and Charlotte wanted to paint them blue,” says the native New Yorker. Charlotte Kemp Muhl, a frequent collaborator who appears in a blonde wig and also sings on the track, co-directed with Lyle Owerko, using an iPhone and special filters to affect a cinematic mash-up of handheld, fishbowl and digital aesthetics. Shot at the Jalopy theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the video casts American Ballet Theater dancer Jennifer Whalen and various circus performers in “a high-school play—in your nightmares”, as Harris amusedly describes it. “Borne Away” is the title track from the 12th solo studio album by the Grammy-award-winning singer-songwriter, known for his work with Willie Nelson, Cat Power and most notably Norah Jones. Written fever-quickly and recorded in a two-day session while on tour, Harris’s new effort bears inflections of Tin Pan Alley pop, waltz, folk and swing, with lyrics inspired by stray dogs in Santiago, Edgar Allen Poe, and personal loss and love stories. “Part of the album is about leaving things behind, but it’s also about new relationships and new attitudes—a cleansing and a renewal,” says the artist.

Jesse Harris: One day Jennifer [Whalen, of ABT dance company] was at my place and I put on a song and she was dancing to it, and I thought, man, that would be amazing in a video. The song has a slow romantic sound to it and it seemed to go well with that kind of dance.

JH: I’ve never been a confessional songwriter, but this album is definitely more autobiographical. It’s a very moody, romantic record. I wanted to do something really intimate, so I played every instrument myself. It’s mostly a solo acoustic record with a little overdub of organs and other keyboards and kalimba and glockenspiel. 

JH: It has a lot of longing and solitude in it. A lot of people, when they hear it, say, ‘It’s so sad,’ which is interesting because when I was writing I was really happy. But I also wanted to explore darker subjects. 

JH: I’m super into Brazilian music—I’ve listened to so much in the past seven years. I love Gal Costa, Jorge Ben, Seu Jorge, Marisa Monte, Maria Gadu. But I like a wide variety of music. At home I mostly listen to vinyl. Ray Manzarek just died, so I’ve been a listening to a lot of The Doors. Sonny Rollins, the Stones, Karen Dalton, James Blake, John Fahey, Big Youth, Frank Sinatra, Keith Jarrett, Gershwin—these are the ones next to my record player. In the car I always listen to Thin Lizzy. I like rock in the car.

JH: The new Daft Punk record. I’m really impressed with that. It’s classic. It’s the type of music I grew up listening to.