Raman Djafari combines live action and animation to brilliant effect in the extraordinary new video for the brilliant Ashnikko - creating a Mad Max-esque dystopian landscape to transform the pop star into a monster truck-wielding hero, fighting off robot overlords as she navigates a strange new world.

In an intense bombardment of visual imagination, Djafari fuses his signature aesthetic of texturally rich CGI with the unhinged, transgressive ambitions of Ashnikko, to create a wonderful, weird, high-octane action movie. 

The influences on the video range from painters Bruegel and Carravagio, to Bjork, to 90s animes like Neon Genesis Evangelion - but you really have to watch on repeat to catch everything that is going on.

Djafari worked closely with Ashnikko and her creative director Vassu Vu in conceptualising the video for Worms - which takes the distinctive style of his previous work - such as his massively successful video for Elton John and Dua Lipa's Cold Heart - into a whole new dimension.

"I wanted to create a vast world that stretches way beyond the bounds of this one music video, like there's an abundance of stories waiting to be told," says Djafari. 

"I indulged my love for creature design and developed dozens of individual characters, monsters, robots and a huge monster truck. It was important to me to bring the world around this album to life, with a richness that reflects the depth of the music and lyrics.

"Working with Ash and Vasso was a truly precious collaboration between artists - they supported and trusted my personal interpretation of the universe they created together. Looking back, I wish I could have spent more time in this world. I feel like this video barely scratches the surface of what I would love to create together with Ashnikko.

"Fingers crossed we'll get another chance to collaborate in the future.”