The Panharmonion Chronicles: Times of London

Unconventional and experimental music video The Panharmonion Chronicles: Times of London from writer/director Henry Chebaane (who also composes the short film’s accompanying track ‘Quantum Blue’ under the name LX8) is the first in a series that promises to follow a space and time travelling protagonist across a steampunk alternate history, intertwined with the world of a comic book he finds reality-bending parallels with.

Chebaane stars as the protagonist, an author stranded in an alternate reality who encounters his creation – a comic series called ‘The Panharmonion Chronicles’. His encounter leads him to explore the idea of multiple realities, and when he is introduced to a mysterious artifact from the book, he realises that there is an entire universe of possibility to be explored.

Henry Chebaane has a fascinating, multi-media vision for The Panharmonion Chronicles, one which the music video Times of London forms only a part of. As a writer, director, actor and music artist, as well as creator of the comic title of the same name, Chebaane is looking to combine his worlds into one overarching franchise. But more than that is a desire to explore bigger ideas about consciousness, reality and identity. His protagonist is an explorer, stranded in an alternate world and at terms with this. But in exploring connections between the comic world and the real one, he is forced to confront questions about his own reality. It’s a clever blending of the comic book’s themes and what is conveyed in the video (filmed in King’s Cross station) that is reminiscent of other steampunk adjacent comic projects such as The Umbrella Academy.

It’s intriguing that the music track ‘Quantum Blue’ seems to take a backseat in what is a music video. The synth-heavy track doesn’t necessarily align with the scenes we follow in the short plot of the film, though it does feel aligned with the film’s themes of exploration and an expanding world. Darker and more foreboding scenes feel somewhat out of tune however, and if Chebaane is aiming to tell a more complex narrative as his story develops in other projects, the tracks themselves may become a more pressing issue.

There is also an issue of limitation for the film, which feels like a beginning of a beginning. We get some sense of the world that Chebaane is looking to integrate and visualise, but this is ultimately only a snapshot. Beyond hinting at possibilities for further instalments, the high-concept themes the director has stated he wishes to explore are not really present in the plot. This may be addressed in subsequent videos, but on its own merits, Times of London comes a little short in this regard.

As a standalone video, The Panharmonion Chronicles: Times of London is a fine visual accompaniment to Henry Chebaane’s Quantum Blue track. To launch a greater multimedia project, it does hold intrigue, though more could have been done to hook viewers who may be inclined to follow his characters across different worlds. For ambition alone it is worth a look, and may be re-assessed upon viewing follow-up editions of this story.