Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor’s second video for The Rolling Stones turns the smouldering chemistry between Anya Taylor-Joy and Charles Melton into an intense, abstract dance routine.

Barrett and Taylor - the longtime directing partnership previously known collectively as Us, now working under their own names - are back with The Stones following their 2020 video for Scarlet. That was fronted by Paul Mescal, dancing with himself in an empty hotel. Now for Jealous Lover they have created a riveting neo-noir dance piece, shot by Larkin Sieple and choreographed by Wynne Holmes and starring two more A-list actors - who are dancing against each other. 

In this new Stones song (from album Foreign Tongues) Mick Jagger rekindles the spirit of Some Girls-era Stones in his vocals. And in true Jagger fashion, the lyrics are basically a warning to a partner who asks too many questions. This becomes the jumping off point for the to-and-fro between Taylor-Joy and Melton, whose simmering conflict begins as they arrive at an LA motel. then explodes through the building and forecourt.

It's a ferocious and passionate pas de deux - with the actors literally bouncing off each other - which then expands as Taylor-Joy 'splits' into several people, represented by four similarly blonde-haired dancers. That's the additional twist that takes the video to the next level. 

"We had the idea very early on," say Barrett and Taylor. "We responded pretty directly to the lyrics and to what Mick had briefed. We loved the idea of creating a very abstract dance that almost felt like a fight. There was no dialogue, just pure expression through movement."

This fit with the ethos of the campaign for the new album, as Emily Jeffery, the project's creative director, explains. "The Foreign Tongues campaign has been creatively centred on the universal language of movement, music and expression. For Jealous Lover, the band were clear that dance should be at its heart, built around an incredible lead couple," she says.

"The challenge was then where does it go after that, how do we connect to the track. We spoke a lot about the complexities of a relationship. Capturing a universal feeling of suddenly not recognising your partner during a disagreement, the different parts of a person you love all the same. Framed through a Pina Bausch-inspired choreography…the guys totally nailed it.“

Barrett and Taylor reveal that their biggest challenge was the lack of time we had with their Taylor-Joy and Melton ahead of the shoot.

"In a way, it helped that we weren’t creating a traditional piece of choreography," they comment. "We wanted something that felt much more instinctive and emotional. Even so, we still needed to develop the movement beforehand because we only had the two of them together for a single day.

"We really lucked out finding Wynn Holmes, our choreographer. Her experience and calm nature made the whole process feel effortless. We knew Anya had a background in dance, so she picked things up incredibly quickly. Charles just has this infectious enthusiasm and such a natural physicality.

"Honestly, the two of them were a dream team. They had such great chemistry that, on a very tight shooting schedule, they made our job a whole lot easier."

Kirsten Cruickshank, director of creative production on the Jealous Lover video, adds: "The particular detail that struck me when Chris and Luke took us through their idea for the first time, that gave me that adrenaline rush of knowing 'this is it', was a line from the lyrics pulled out and placed centre page: 'You're clinging like ivy, You're choking a tree' over a motion background of movement and bodies that lucidly represented exactly what we were hoping to achieve. 

"The whole team at Academy were incredible. Medb, Lexi, Lola and Luke spent a bit longer away from home than they'd originally anticipated but the sense of team never waivered. Chris and Luke were an absolute dream to go on this journey with. Can't thank them enough."