FEATURE:
Coming Strongly into Focus
IN THIS PHOTO: Moses Sumney/PHOTO CREDIT: Pari Dukovic
Awesome Music Videos from 2020
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WHILST there is always a lot of attention….
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa/PHOTO CREDIT: Erik Madigan Heck
this time of year regarding albums and singles, fewer sites and people mention music videos. This year has been an especially tough one when it comes to filming ambitious videos and, whilst some managed to complete theirs before the pandemic struck, others have had to make do with limitations and social distancing. It is hard whittling down the best videos of the year so, instead, I have selected some particularly brilliant ones that differ in terms of why they are standout – whether it is the simplicity or the sheer colour and vibrancy of it (Thanks to Insider, Billboard, and Paste, and Pitchfork for their descriptions and thoughts on each). I feel sorry for artists putting music out this year, as they have had to deliver videos and do their very best under tough conditions. Here are some incredible videos that prove that, even in a bleak year, artists have managed to…
IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama/PHOTO CREDIT: Jess Farran
PRODUCE some ace visuals!
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HAIM - I Know Alone (Director: Jake Schreier)
“Of all the beloved dance-focused videos Haim has made, none offer a better marriage of moves and subject matter than the accidental quarantine anthem "I Know Alone," written about by pre-COVID depression and isolation. With co-choreographer Francis and the Lights, the sisters created a routine that's both strikingly literal -- standing six feet apart, they mime aimlessly swiping on through their phones -- and subtly layered: Este, Danielle and Alana give a performance about going through the motions of life without actually going through the motions on camera. The fact that the sisters never interact despite their proximity also gives the video a surreal feeling, as if they could have been spliced together in post-production -- simultaneously together and apart, like all of us in 2020” - Billboard
Ariana Grande – positions (Director: Dave Meyers)
“For the video to the title track from Ariana Grande’s sixth album, the pop star tries to relieve the nation’s collective anxiety around the presidential election by gifting us a blissful fever-dream version of the White House. Grande swans around in Jackie Kennedy outfits as the commander-in-chief (with a gilded portrait of her chihuahua Toulouse in the cabinet room), with a fabulous group of aides that includes regular collaborators Victoria Monét and Tayla Parx. She even awards a Medal of Freedom to USPS workers, another anti-Trump jab in a clip full of them” - Pitchfork
Christine & The Queens - La vita nuova (Director: Colin Solal Cardo)
“Earlier this year, Christine and the Queens released a surprise EP with an accompanying short film titled La vita nuova. The film was shot by Colin Solal Cardo at the Palais Garnier and features Caroline Polachek, who appears on one of the EP’s tracks. Choreography for the film was handled by Ryan Heffington, known for his work with Maddie Ziegler for Sia’s “Chandelier” video, as well as Arcade Fire’s “We Exist.” The film has a luscious, glittery sheen and bodily, primeval dancing reminiscent of Luca Guadagnino’s recent Suspiria remake. Chris (or Héloïse Letissier) struggles with her feelings for a horned creature credited as “The Fauna” (Félix Maritaud). There’s several gorgeous shots of the famed Parisian opera house, with styling that reflects the eclectic blend of baroque, classic and renaissance architecture present within the building” - Paste
Rico Nasty - Own It (Director: Philippa Price)
“When it comes to pulling off decadent, eccentric looks, Rico Nasty remains in a league of her own. For the swaggering “Own It,” her best video yet, she struts through a series of eye-popping sets, each one more stylishly freakish than the next. Pushing a stroller of ducklings while wearing acrylics and a neon gimp mask with icicles sticking out of it? Sure. Swaying on a swing set strung up with taxidermied opossums? Of course. Did I mention the dangling eyebrow piercings and inexplicable, oversized feet? Each visual oddity bears out Rico’s over-the-top vision with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, making the video as delightful as it is bizarre” - Pitchfork
Arca – Nonbinary (Director: Frederik Heyman)
“Arca’s very existence defies conventions—not to mention the challenging experimental soundscapes that brought her fame. Several of the visuals for her latest album KiCk i portray the Venezuelan-born electronic artist as an androgynous cyborg, and they are subversive, sensory explosions. The start of the video for “Nonbinary” finds a human Arca presumably mortally wounded before she’s gradually revived by highly-advanced cyborgs and gracefully reemerges from a shell. In the final scene, two identical Arcas appear while arguing—one dressed in black, and one in white—amid violently shaky cameras and raging flames. It’s full of contradictions and cloaked in symbolism, both subtle and overt. We see a dramatic, mythical tug-of-war between organic matter and machines, masculinity and femininity, heaven and hell—plus the “thorn” in her side, and the lyrics displayed on screen which alternate between lowercase and uppercase letters” - Paste
Moses Sumney - Me in 20 Years (Director: Allie Avital)
“When crafting the visuals to accompany sophomore album græ, Moses Sumney took creative control into his own hands to communicate the sense of yearning at the core of the album. In his latest clip, for “Me in 20 Years,” Sumney cakes on old-age makeup and creeps around a dilapidated apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, rendering the song’s loneliness in very literal terms. “With your imprint in my bed/A pit so big I lay on the edge,” he sings, a lyric that comes to life here in the form of an ominous space of darkness on his empty bed, festering like an open wound. Throughout the clip, Sumney seems as if he’s tending to this black hole, perhaps eventually succumbing to it entirely” - Pitchfork
Perfume Genius - Describe (Director: Mike Hadreas)
"Can you describe them for me?" When it comes to Perfume Genius' self-directed music videos, the answer is never accurately or really appropriately -- they manage to be moving and tactile and memory-searing without ever cooperating with easy summarization. The "Describe" visual feels part barn-raise, part cult ritual, part theatrical workshop, but more importantly, it feels as earthy, sensual and poetic as the grunge-pop lurcher it accompanies, a world entirely of its own making” - Billboard
Kate NV - Plans (Directors: Kate NV & Pavel Kling)
“Moscow pop experimentalist Kate NV is a collector of unusual inspirations, from ’80s Japanese pop music to ’70s Russian children’s shows. Together they form a tuneful, unconventional vision of pop music, with dreamy lyrics in French, Russian, and English. The video for “Plans,” the upbeat latest single from Kate NV’s forthcoming third album Room for the Moon, is her best yet. In a screwy take on public-access television, she creates “Kate TV,” a station where she’s the lead news anchor (in a suit and severe makeup that channels both Laurie Anderson and Christine and the Queens). The clip takes full, cheeky advantage of its green-screen conceit, with a miniature version of Kate dancing on her own gloved hand, a dance sequence in front of a weather map that catches fire, and a cast of confused reporters who reappear in increasingly ridiculous outfits. The joyously absurdist clip leads up to an ecstatic, confetti-showered climax that perfectly channels Kate NV’s winsome charm” - Pitchfork
Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – Already (Director: Joshua Kissi)
“Of course, "Already" is better when it's consumed within the greater framework of "Black Is King." But even on its own, this video is a painstakingly styled and deeply impressive enterprise. You can pause "Already" at literally any moment and it will look like a painting. In fact, it's more performance art than music video.
On top of its sheer beauty, "Already" features countless details that pay homage to pan-Africanism, including West African symbolism, Ghanaian excellence, and Nigerian fashion.
Not to mention: Beyoncé nailing the Gbese and sticking out her tongue? That two-second clip alone would be enough to land at No. 1 on this list” - Insider
FKA twigs - sad day (Director: Hiro Murai)
“While touring behind 2019’s MAGDALENE, FKA twigs performed the martial art of wushu, which involves a jian sword and incredible self-control. She puts those skills to use in the video to the album’s crushing centerpiece, “sad day,” helmed by “This Is America” and Atlanta director Hiro Murai. The short film captures a clash between twigs and a man sitting in a café—their connection is left unspoken, but as the two launch into a sword fight that crashes out onto the streets and rooftops, it’s obvious something much more intense is going on. All of twigs’ videos for MAGDALENE have been cinematic and emotionally wrenching, but here she and Murai craft a surprising spin on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that perfectly fits the song’s cutting depiction of a breakup” - Pitchfork
Rina Sawayama – XS (Director: Ali Kurr)
“Japanese-British force Rina Sawayama blessed us with her debut album this year, and one of the highlights was obviously "XS." (Or rather, “excess.” Get it?) The video is huge in scope, as Sawayama appears on an HSN-style network and hawks “RINA Water” products over slammin' guitars, all between exaggerated choreography. But things start to deteriorate when we get a look at the factory workers bottling a product that just might be toxic -- and which is extracted from a pitiful jailed creature -- and Sawayama’s shiny television personality malfunctions. It’s entirely over the top, and a clever commentary on glitzy consumerism to boot. Oh me, oh my!” - Billboard
Cardi B (ft. Megan Thee Stallion) – WAP (Director: Colin Tilley)
“As Stereogum's Tom Breihan writes: "In a summer that's been hopelessly devoid of crowd-pleasing spectacle, the 'WAP' video is the closest thing we have to a new 'Avengers' movie."
"WAP" is precisely the kind of music video that elevates a song from catchy to iconic. The song is unabashedly, gloriously filthy, and only a video that appropriately celebrates Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion — meaning both their talent and their curves — could have done it proper justice.
But the genius of "WAP" doesn't stop there. For the price of one video, you are also blessed with a Normani dance break and the endless amusement of angry, horny conservative pundits voluntarily exposing their utter lack of interest in female pleasure” - Insider
Kelly Lee Owens - On (Director: Kasper Häggström)
“A man and his adorable golden retriever go on a seemingly mundane road trip in the video for “On,” from electronic artist Kelly Lee Owens’ forthcoming second LP Inner Song. Filmed with the gloss of a car commercial, the clip follows them on a long drive through the countryside, watching from the backseat as they stop to play catch and run along the beach. The sentimental journey raises questions about where they’re headed and why, with those answers ultimately revealed in a sequence at a ferry landing that’s both crushing and oddly hopeful. Its simple visual concept is delivered with a clear, compassionate touch” - Pitchfork
Crack Cloud - Ouster Stew (Director: Self-directed)
“In comparison to the tightly-coiled, guitar-driven post-punk of Crack Cloud’s self-titled release, “Ouster Stew” is more colorful and eccentric—adding synths and saxophone into the mix. Lead singer Zach Choy’s (the group are adamant not to call him a frontman, doubling down on their decentralized model) vocals are positively waggish as their guitars squawk with an art-rock-meets-funk vivacity. Perhaps most unexpected is the bare, pronounced, mid-song drum solo, during which chaos breaks out in the song’s dramatic, high-concept video. Their visuals and sonic ambition recall the aesthetics of U.K. outfit HMLTD, whose 2020 debut album, West of Eden, also infused militaristic, high art, gothic and theatrical imagery” - Paste
Phoebe Bridgers - I Know the End (Director: Alissa Torvinen)
“Crescendoing closer “I Know the End” is one of the most stunning moments on Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher, and the video captures that same anthemic quality. It finds the singer in her now-trademark skeleton onesie as she endures various states of instability: sunken in an overflowing bathtub, fleeing on the back of a pickup truck, running through an empty football stadium in the dark. Then, just when it seems like things couldn’t get more surreal, the clip climaxes with one of the most unexpected makeout sessions in recent music video history” - Pitchfork
Lady Gaga - 911 (Director: Tarsem Singh)
“The most conceptual video of the Chromatica era so far is a feat of COVID-era filmmaking — nothing about Gaga's or director Tarsem Singh's vision feels compromised by the realities of the pandemic. And what a vision it is: The "911" video resembles a turducken of metaphors, telling the story of a mental health crisis through the story of a car crash and the imagery of the 1969 Soviet Armenian film The Color of Pomegranates. Like Gaga's best videos, there's a certain je-ne-sais-WTF element, at least until the big reveal. But like any good psychological thriller, the "911" video more than earns its twist. Gaga and Singh create a world so rich with symbolism that decoding it doesn't feel like the end — it's an invitation to dive back in” - Billboard
Slowthai - BB (BODYBAG) (Directors: THE REST)
“slowthai’s “BB (BODYBAG)” is a pure shot of adrenaline, with rapid-fire threats delivered over a relentlessly rolling beat by Mount Kimbie’s Dom Maker. Its video ups the ante by dropping us into a tense game of Russian roulette in a parking garage, and it never eases up on the dread: The Bajan-British rapper sports a mask made of cigarette butts, raps through the POV of an open mouth like the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors, and plays a knife game with his hand as flames rise behind him. Menace runs deep in slowthai’s feverish rap, and here he amps up the imagery to brutal new highs” - Pitchfork
Halsey - you should be sad (Director: Colin Tilley)
“On an album full of courage, chaos, and bare honesty, "You Should Be Sad" is a particularly bold highlight.
With cutting lyrics like "I'm so glad I never ever had a baby with you / 'Cause you can't love nothing unless there's something in it for you" — largely inspired by country music's history of petty and powerful breakup bops — this song always deserved an equally splashy, dauntless visual. Thankfully, Halsey delivered just that.
The music video doubles as a sexy hoedown and a salute to some of Halsey's female idols, including Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, and Lady Gaga.
Every detail is deliciously on target, from the dark, fiery tear-stains painted onto Halsey's face to the cheetah-clad reference to Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much” - Insider
CHAI - Donuts Mind If I Do (Director: Hideto Hotta)
“The Japanese rock band CHAI have a stellar track record for unexpected, creative videos, whether popping their arms and heads through bright-pink paper backdrops or smearing frosted icing on each other’s faces in a parking garage. For their breezy new song “Donuts Mind If I Do,” the band’s easygoing camaraderie is given a literally timeless portrayal. Set at a tea party on a bucolic hillside, the band eat colorful, plate-sized donuts. Then everything time-jumps to the same location years later, with CHAI dressed in old-age makeup, complete with headwraps and clunky eyeglasses. They’re still eating their donuts and enjoying each other’s company, lounging on trees and reading books together. It’s a charming testament to enduring friendship” - Pitchfork
Dua Lipa - Break My Heart (Director: Henry Scholfield)
"I've always been the one to say the first goodbye," Dua Lipa laments at the top of "Break My Heart," and the video fittingly finds her slipping in and out of various scenes, Inception-style, without breaking a sweat. We see her plummeting through the pink-purple sky until an airplane constructs itself around her; dropping into a bubble bath only to reappear floating in a fizzy cocktail; and dominating a dancefloor until the camera pulls back, revealing it was just one small dot on a domino – which another Dua Lipa, naturally, knocks over” - Billboard