Woodkid never meant to fall into music, despite adding the hallmark voices of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles on the roster of singers he’s worked with as an artistic director. Talk about directing videos for two of the world’s biggest fan bases or what? Swifties, Stylers, do we have your attention?

But sometimes, serendipity is the key to success. And for Woodkid – namely Yoanna Lemoin – music presented itself as an unexpected trip down the rabbit hole. “I was more interested in image form and visuals,” he claims. Much like the French director’s ascension into the unknown, so too is often the case for newcomers in the watch industry, stumbling through the jargon of tourbillons and telemeters and an entire world that makes people tick. Literally.

But what prompts the submersion? Unforeseen relatability, and for French musician Woodkid, an enveloping of the senses. Embarking on a new form of collaboration for 2023, Woodkid builds on his partnership with luxury watchmakers, Vacheron Constantin, to herd new audiences into the world of all things haute horology.

Other than controlling your music with your Apple Watch, perhaps it’s never crossed your mind just how united the realms of music and time are interlinked. Proving just how since the inception of Woodkid’s partnership with Vacheron Constantin in 2022 (via a two-part mentoring program with Abbey Road Studios), this year, Woodkid binds together the two schools of thought in an epic track that dances with the technical sophistication of narrating time – not on your wrist – but through your ears.

So as you add the Grammy-nominated star’s track to your playlist, discover the intricate similarities interpreted from medium to medium. From a tempo with 12 pulses, inspired by a Vacheron Constantin watch, divisions have also been recreated to include new rhythms evoking a melodic world tour of different cultures from tango, bembé, and bossa nova.

“This track is about engaging the body and allowing it to react,” shares Woodkid. Invoking a wholly synaesthetic experience, he relies on the senses to communicate the intricacies and level of detail that comes with high watchmaking. Much like a watchmaker engineers the tick, Woodkid engineers the beat.

Through the theme of Less’Ential, manifesting the elegance of when an object or feeling is stripped of its essentials, Vacheron Constantin and Woodkid build on their union, which began over a year ago with a two-part mentoring program. “This track connects you to the idea of time and how you can represent it visually,” reflects Woodkid on the conception of the track. Drawing references from Euclidean mathematical forms – a structure that governs all musical rhythms – Woodkid translates music from a page in a circular motion, much like the curve of a dial.

At the helm of watchmaking with a greater anthropological purpose, pulling in new eyes and ears, Vacheron Constantin continues to showcase its commitment in championing watchmaking as a form of artistry in its own right. Much as we consider portraiture, dance, sculpture or song as acts of total virtuosity, the Maison strives to bring this definition to wider audiences, unaware of the intense craftsmanship and history inside a watch.

“Time is ever changing, it’s always in motion. And music relies on that same process,” he shares. “We created this project to help people understand why the craft of watchmaking is so incredible. It’s like ballet dancing. It looks so easy and simple, but underneath it’s so complex. And that’s where the beauty is: in the mystery of complexity.”