Janelle Monáe fights back tears and her sanity in the stripped-down video for “Cold War.” The camera zooms in on the ArchAndroid’s face, exposing her naked shoulders and raw emotion in one take.

Monáe told staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud that her tears were spontaneous and triggered a chain reaction. “I remember crying during ‘Cold War’ [on the] first take,” she said. “I didn’t know how that happened but it just did. I was very moved by that. It was really a special moment; then everybody else started to cry.”

She offered further insight into the Wendy Morgan-directed clip. “‘Cold War’ reveals what the ArchAndroid looks like,” she stated. “[The video] deals with a psychosis—you’re in my mind and you get a chance to understand Metropolis, where it all stemmed [from] and my thoughts. It’s very psychedelic and trippy.”