Stanley Brock directs an engrossing and enigmatic video for alt dance/electronic producer/DJ/artist Lauren Duffus, with imagery that mirrors the mysterious nocturnal mood of her music: Duffus wanders woozily through nighttime London in an astronaut suit...With considerable buzz around Duffus and her distinctive sound - mutating synths embellished by poignant keys and understated yet mellifluous vocals - Brock has delivered an impressive video for Need U More Than Ever where the first scene marks out its quirky unpredictability: Duffus appears from outer space in a gritty urban landscape, moving forwards as the world runs in reverse, then lights up a cigarette.Her progress takes various turns from then on - including a confrontation with another Earthbound 'astronaut'."I’ve been wanting to put someone cool in an astronaut suit for a while now," says Brock. "I’m not really sure why, I just think they look great. I had that image in my mind for ages, of someone walking slow-mo to camera in one, eventually lifting the visor and then just sparking something. Lucky for me Lauren is very cool and her music is amazing so it was pretty perfect."We both share a lot of inspirations and references (I think), such as a love for designer clothing, so it felt only right to slap a big pony on the suit, especially after seeing her Chief Keef remix. I love not having to really explain it, it’s part of the beauty of music videos for me. It doesn’t have to be so literal. Also it wouldn’t be a music video without a slow motion reverse burnout."I wanted it to feel a bit weird and slow and dreamy, until its not, until she is confronted by a lover or a friend, who’s been looking for her all night, worried sick - who was actually her lovely boyfriend Conor - and they have an argument that takes you back to reality for a strange and brief moment."Brock reveals that the astronaut was extremely valuable - apparently it was worn by Kevin Bacon in an EE ad - and it came with its own security detail, which caused him some anxiety. "It was essential for the video that the suit was proper," he continues. "Its all really about the image of her in the suit walking through the night. We did a big search and found there was only really one good one in the country, that needed to come with its own ‘handler’. This was a big worry as the whole shoot was kind of cowboy-style filming and I didn’t want the protecter of the suit to freak out, and we lose everything."Lucky for us, the 'suit guard' was George, one of the loveliest men I’ve come across. He’s travelled around the world with that suit."

Academy Award nominated Irish film director and writer Ruairi Robinson directs an unsettling AI-generated promo for composer Steve Moore. Generating the visuals using Google Veo 2, the video for The Blue Stone meditates on the state of the world, bringing to life an anachronistic vision of war through the ages. Boasting a step-up in AI video generation techniques, Robinson utilises the uncanny, nightmarish quality of generative AI to great effect, with grimly powerful results. "I had an uneasy feeling of what was wrong with the world," he explains. "I wanted to make a video that would be so expensive to produce traditionally, that no one in their right mind would ever in a million years give me the absurd amount of money it would take to make."So I first decided to make an image of a dancing skeletal jester and the rest of the idea sprang from there: a recreation of the medieval Danse Macabre that spans many wars and atrocities throughout history."A place where the guilty are shown what they did then forced to dance and watch the dead they have wronged - dance and dance and dance until they can’t take it any more."

Lola Webster harnesses the buzzing energy of DJ/producer Omar+ and Piri with a dynamic, retro-influenced visual for infectious dance track Body Language.A studio performance that focusses squarely on the artists charisma and chemistry, Webster also employs a box of visual tricks, drawing on a range of nostalgic influences from a lo-res video look, to Piri's sillouetted dance moves, driven by an adrenalin-fuelled edit. There are striking visual moments too, such as Piri appearing to dance on Omar’s head or rest in the palm of his hand -literal interpretations of the lyrics that flips expectations. The track is just 2.20 in length, and not a second is wasted to make it as impactful as possible. Webster reveals that the concept of silhouettes was a foundational element of the project, drawing inspiration from the iconic 2000s iPod silhouette ads and by the fleeting connections we make on the dance floor. Lola and Omar+ worked to elevate the visuals into a darker, more mysterious realm that matched the sultry tone of the song.Despite a tight budget, producer Zoe Gunn and editor Rauri Cantelo helped elevate the project with creative solutions. Once the video was shot, the post process was completed by running the clean footage through mini-DV tapes to boost the early Noughties look.“Body Language is such an ear-worm of a track, and the video always needed to be a complete visual representation of Omar and Piri’s combined energy,” says Webster. “For me, the creative hook was the idea that when you’re dancing or making eyes across a dance floor, you can communicate with your own body language. Pushing the idea of body language as a concept, I thought about playing around with scale and how we could combine Piri and Omar+ in the frame in a way that felt dynamic and tongue-in-cheek. “Working with Omar+ and Piri on set was amazing - their chemistry as collaborators and friends really came across in the rushes, hyping each other up to bring out their performance personas. Omar+ as an artist has such an underground, if-you-know-you-know sonic. His visuals need an air of mystery, and it was really important that as his first music video, it communicated his vibe within the first three seconds."

Jared Malik Royal directs a darkly enigmatic promo for new alt-pop artist Bruses. The video for Coma Party is based on a true story, written by Bruses. In an atmospheric industrial location, a group of mysterious strangers circle round the artist, taking part in an almost ritualistic dance. With strobing lights and fog-filled frames, the video builds to an explosive climax.