Ouri — Paris (Ft. Oli XL)

JUL 01 2025 · 12:00

Ouri — Paris (Ft. Oli XL) (2025) Director: Ouri Era: Post-Digital Indie Electronic (2025) - Mid-2020s underground electronic-pop auteur era defined by self-directed, location-shot micro-budget music videos with high artistic intentionality High curatorial value as a self-directed video by an internationally recognized Canadian electronic artist at a pivotal career moment — transitioning from a Polaris-shortlisted debut to a more experimentally ambitious second album. The video's fusion of personal biography, Parisian street-realism, and glitch-pop aesthetics makes it a richly documented cultural object. Its DIY production methodology and total creative autonomy model are significant for archives concerned with the changing economics and aesthetics of music video production in the mid-2020s. Context: Released October 9, 2025, as the third single from Ouri's second album Daisy Cutter (Born Twice Records, October 24, 2025), 'Paris' sits within a mid-2020s moment of renewed interest in artist-directed, intimately scaled music videos that prioritize biographical authenticity over production spectacle. The collaboration with Swedish glitch-pop artist Oli XL — who co-wrote and co-produced the track — reflects a transatlantic underground electronic community built around shared aesthetic values rather than commercial infrastructure. Ouri's Parisian upbringing, her background as a classical cellist who pivoted to electronic music, and her Montreal-based career frame the video as a cross-continental act of autobiographical reclamation. The video's street-realism aesthetic aligns with broader trends in European and Canadian independent electronic music, where self-directed location videos signal artistic credibility and auteur identity. Director notes: Ouri self-directed this video, shooting on location in Paris, France. The video depicts a narrative in which Oli XL snatches Ouri's phone and runs through the streets of Paris, creating a pursuit-based visual story. The video functions as a biographical memory piece: Ouri has described the song as an ode to her younger self growing up in Paris, referencing being 14 and staying out until sunrise. The self-directed approach is consistent with Ouri's broader ethos of total creative autonomy, extending her practice of self-engineering and self-producing into the visual domain. The intimate, low-budget, location-shot aesthetic mirrors the album's wider philosophy of recording in borrowed spaces and non-studio settings.