Daft Punk - Instant Crush (video) Ft. Julian Casablancas Apr 2026

The story is heavily influenced by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," which depicts the doomed romance between a toy soldier and a paper ballerina.

The wax sculpture of Casablancas was designed by Tony Gardner , a renowned special effects artist who also engineered Daft Punk's helmets and worked on Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" video. Daft Punk - Instant Crush (Video) ft. Julian Casablancas

The video’s central plot revolves around two wax figures in a museum exhibition hall: a Napoleonic-era French soldier (modeled after Julian Casablancas) and a female peasant woman. Though inanimate, the figures share a silent, yearning connection. The story is heavily influenced by Hans Christian

The choice of wax figures underscores the "frozen" nature of unrequited love—a desire to act that is physically impossible to fulfill. Though inanimate, the figures share a silent, yearning

To ensure accuracy, the production team performed a high-resolution 3D cyber scan of Julian Casablancas’ head to create the mesh for the wax figure.

The music video for a standout track from Daft Punk’s 2013 album Random Access Memories featuring Julian Casablancas, is a melancholic masterpiece that explores themes of memory, unrequited love, and the passage of time. Directed by Warren Fu and produced by Daft Arts , the video transforms a retro-pop ballad into a tragic visual narrative inspired by classic storytelling. Narrative and Inspiration

The figures are eventually moved to a dusty storage warehouse. A fire breaks out, and as the heat melts them, the two figures finally unite, holding hands as they dissolve into a single pool of wax. Symbolism and Cameos