Tigran Hamasyan has unveiled the music video for "Markos and Markos," a song from his new album, An Ancient Observer, which was released in March on Nonesuch Records. The screenplay, direction, and animation for the video are by Naira Muradyan, inspired by Zahrad's poem "Marc and Marc." You can watch it below.

"As an artist coming out of Armenia, it is a real dream come true to be working with Naira, who is one of my favorite living animation artists in the world," says Hamasyan. "Naira’s work is deeply touching and very poetic. Her works are always taking you to a place you don’t wanna come back from. It’s never showing off anything and always about the visual poetry and giving us viewers an awakening feeling after we are done watching it. Naira’s works are often times inspired by different Armenian poets, like Nahapet Koochak (16th century), Sayat Nova (18th century), or in this case by Zahrad (20th century).

"In general," Hamasyan continues, "the abstract thinking of animation and its possibilities give people an opportunity to experience something profound with simplicity that is different and also difficult to achieve in cinematography."

"Tigran is writing a kind of music that is completely out of time," says Muradyan. "There are so many great music creations, but not all of them can tell you a story or let you create characters. Tigran suggested that I choose a work from his new album to make an animated video, and I was so thrilled about that. And as soon as he started playing the first piece, I immediately pictured what the video would look like. Even though I didn’t have a story yet, I was still eager to start doing something. During that time, I was working on my animated film based on Zahrad’s poem 'Marc and Marc.' I already had the beginning of the film. I put Tigran’s music on it, just for a try. And it fit perfectly. I sent it to Tigran, and lucky for me he liked it."

The Buffalo News says An Ancient Observer is "richly and irresistibly melodic ... a deeply poetic kind of omni-music ... Every bit as infectious and captivating as his last record on Nonesuch, Mockroot." DownBeat exclaims: "It's simply breathtaking." The Huffington Post calls Hamasyan "one of jazz's most dynamic artists" and the new album "outstanding."

To pick up a copy of An Ancient Observer, head to iTunes, Amazon, and the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout.

Tigran Hamasyan's world tour continues with stops in Europe through May, then heads to Japan and Australia. For details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.