The music video for Björk’s “The Gate” is breath-taking. Taken from her euphoric tenth album Utopia, frequent collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang’s visuals are the perfect complement for the expansive soundscapes and blissful peaks and troughs of the song.

Now we’ve been granted a glimpse at the meticulous creative process behind one of the year’s best visuals, courtesy of the musician. In the behind-the-scenes video shared on Björk’s YouTube, the stunning, CGI-laden opening shot is constructed piece by piece, building up a beautiful, alien land. From the wafting orange grass to the bizarre shell-like structures dancing in the sky, the key to the video’s greatness is all in the detail.

The video then captures Björk in a specially-made gown from Gucci’s Alessandro Michele. Huang used motion capture technology to create the elfin dancers, while rows of LED lights help set the mood of the scene. This part of the video is all about colour, and we see how the dancers move from a design to basic computer-generated figures, and then the shimmering, colourful beings we see in the music video. The tangerine palette and CGI forestscapes also define the video for title track “Utopia”.

Björk has once again created a stunning visual companion to her boundary-pushing songs that makes us reimagine what a music video can be.

You can watch “The Gate” deconstructed here