Kanye West makes an unexpected appearance in Francis and the Lights' new video for 'Friends', alongside Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon. He doesn't exactly take centre stage, but it's the sort of performance art the rapper is really into at the moment, though there's no nudity in this visual.

Kanye WestKanye West stars in Francis and the Lights' 'Friends' video

The 'Famous' rapper was joined by Justin Vernon from Bon Ivor and Francis Farewell Starlite of Francis and the Lights for the latter's newest visual effort; a video for his latest tune 'Friends'. Directed by Jake Schreier, it sees Kanye moving his body to the music in a white walled room as Francis Farewell Starlite switches between dancing erratically and walking around, before joining Justin Vernon of Bon Iver in a bizarre but oddly compelling choreographed session. 

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Avid pop fans may find the track familiar as it was sampled in Chance the Rapper's 'Summer Friends' - taken from his latest album 'Coloring Book' - which was also produced by Francis. Kanye West also worked with Chance on his 'The Life of Pablo' track 'Ultralight Beam' and with Bon Iver on his albums 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and 'Yeezus'. 

'Friends' was co-written by Justin Vernon from Bon Iver, alongside Rostam Batmanglij who used to be in Vampire Weekend and songwriters BJ Burton and Aaron Lammer. The were also on the production team with Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Brandon Flowers), Benny Blanco (Katy Perry, Britney Spears) and Cashmere Cat who is incidentally set to release his debut album this year.

Francis and the Lights formed in 2007 in New York City. They went on to tour with the likes of Drake, MGMT, Ke$ha, and La Roux before signing with Good Years Recordings in 2013. So far we've seen four EPs, a cover of Kanye West's 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' and a film score for 2012's 'Robot & Frank', but we're yet to see a debut studio album from them. Could 'Friends' be the start of their first full-length venture?