First look: Emily Wells video, with footage from new Neil Gaiman film

In the not-too-distant future, Here Is Something Beautiful (etc. — an animated movie based on the life of influential underground writer and poet Richard Brautigan — will be hitting the festival circuit, and not without some fanfare.

The movie, directed by Anthony Lucero and Paul Swensen, will feature evocative rotoscoped animation (see: the Richard Linklater films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly), and will feature appearances from Jeff Bridges, Neil Gaiman, Wim Wenders, and more — as well as an original score from acclaimed NYC singer-songwriter Emily Wells.

As a preview, Wells’ has a new video for her single “Darlin'” that features a full scene from the film, and you can watch it exclusively here. Like the movie itself, the video’s directed by Anthony Lucero and animated by Jun Awakawa, offering fans a first look at the movie’s visuals. The scene is inspired by Brautigan’s short story “Times Square in Montana,” taken from his book The Tokyo-Montana Express. The song itself (taken from her recent album Mama Acoustic Recordings) is simple and spare, with Wells’ quietly compelling voice nicely complementing the scene’s absorbing animation.

Take a look at the video below:

If you’re in the New York area, you can watch Wells at a free show at Lincoln Center tomorrow as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the Kronos Quartet. And stay tuned for more information on Here Is Something Beautiful (etc.