Swarm

Created by Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, the Amazon Prime series Swarm follows Dre (Dominique Fishback) as she becomes obsessed with a fictional pop star and is led to a dark place through her obsessive behaviour.

The trailer uses a cover version of The Pixies’ oft-used “Where Is My Mind”, from the 1988 album Surfer Rosa. Zimbabwean-Australian singer-songwriter Tkay Maidza delivers a version heavier on percussion and atmospherics, and the track is further remixed and rearranged in the trailer to build suspense.

The first moments of the trailer deliver atmospheric violin under a monologue; we don’t hear anything from “Where Is My Mind” until 0:20, when an iconic semitone motif enters through the distant vocal. It’s so subtle that only those who already know the music being used would likely pick up on it, but this chances quickly enough at 0:23 as Maidza’s vocals enter properly, replete with lyrics from the song (“with your feet on your air and your head on the ground”).

At 0:42 the music is cut in favour of some disturbing, atmospheric vocals; the violin from earlier returns, playing some arpeggios not found in the Pixies song—it’s clearly an original addition meant to pad out the trailer’s arrangement. The somewhat abrupt shift matches the shift in this montage sequence towards violence. The semitone motif from earlier repeats before the music drops out again. But at 0:56 we hear the first unmistakable buzzing, a sound that will become increasingly important as the trailer progresses (1:35, 1:46, 2:02).

The percussion arrives in full force with an insistent beat at the one-minute mark, matching a club scene on screen, with the motif from the song playing on synths. This disappears for a moment at 1:07 for a one-liner, only to come back at 1:11, and again at 1:19. Notable, at 1:28 we get a major synch point, with the downbeat matching what looks like a body being stabbed in someone’s kitchen. We hear screaming alongside the vocal line “where is my mind”—clearly suggesting a reading of the lyrics as being about madness. Notice also at 1:35 how a line of the song is looped, as if stuck on repeat, on the line “is my mind”. At 1:42 the track drops out, but on the relative minor key.

What makes Swarm’s trailer notable is not only the use of a lesser-known but no less impactful cover version, but also how the song is interspersed with original moments in its arrangement. Together, they serve for a solid sense of cohesion.

Swarm is set for release on Amazon Prime Video on March 17th.

— Curtis Perry