Jorja Smith makes her directorial debut with the video for Falling Or Flying - the latest release from her forthcoming new album - and mirroring the sultry and soulful sounds of the track, she sets out to portray the dichotomy of falling or flying in a simple narrative that peaks as she departs on a journey into space.Up to that point, the viewer is treated to shots of a solitary Jorja as she performs the song captivatingly to the camera in an underground bunker, in the final preparations for her mission. Jorja worked closely with her crew and Stink's Head of Music Videos Dom McKiernan to bring her vision to life. "Jorja is equally as impressive behind the camera as she is in front of it," says McKiernan. "Incredibly considered, quick thinking and with just such a positive vibe throughout."Jorja had a clear idea of what she wanted and could communicate it to the crew cohesively whilst also being really collaborative and open to figuring out the best way to crystalise her vision together with the crew.”Jorja Smith adds that the idea for the video “came to mind ‘cause I always wanted to shoot a video in space. Falling Or Flying just made me think of that. I wanted to go up into space with someone I love and cherish, but they didn’t want to come with me.”

Directing duo rubberband. tap into a notion of mortality for US soulman Omar Apollo's super-visceral promo for Ice Slippin.The video is a dazzling multi-format video, featuring a wide variety of footage, from live-action performance through to vintage animation and home-video snapshots. And at the core is the fully committed performance of a Apollo - and its surely no coincidence that he exudes physical beauty like the modern version of his namesake Greek God.It's a tour de force of creativity, and has a poignant, lingering feel that doesn't quite let up after viewing. A masterclass of music video creativity, anchored by an emotive performance and inspired production techniques. “This collaboration with Omar was in pursuit of expanding the final millisecond of one’s life," explain rubberband. "In this case, Omar spoke about the moment of his near fatal accident on the way to come out to his family on the black iced roads of Indiana."We wanted to make a film that was both literal in its visualizations of physical, corporeal death and rebirth through medical imaging and non-traditional image making technology and abstract in its representation of the internal recreation of his consciousness.We wanted the video to [reflect] the many different physical pieces of what it means to be a human...We utilized EEGs, ECGs, neuronal activity simulation, heart ultrasound, brain MRI, volumetric capture, motion capture, audio spectrography, thermal imaging, hand cut emulsion transitions, archival video, CGI, print and scanned 2D animation, and standard 35mm to capture Omar."We wanted the video to be an object that reflected the many different physical pieces of what it means to be a human and what it would take, in the realm of magical realism, to rebuild a human soul.”

Charlie Di Placido demonstrates his command of shooting dance performance, with an absorbing promo for Steven Wilson. Following the exceptional longform project for Jungle's new album Volcano, the video for Wilson's Economies Of Scale plays to Di Placido's strengths in choreographed concepts and awe-inspiring one-takes, and boasts an elevated, emotional experience from the first frame, featuring powerful performances from the two dancers, Sasha Shadid and Salomé Pressac. The concept was centred around the album artwork, and builds on it in an enigmatic, completely captivating way - as Di Placido explains. "One of my favourite videos of the year," he says. "It's always such a privilege when an artist has the bravery to give you such scope in terms of how you approach a visual and to allow me to hero these incredible dancers."Sasha Shadid and Salomé Pressac gave such inspired performances and the end result is a real moment in time captured. I wanted to play with the audience expectations on who these characters are and their roles in the Economies of Scale within society, as it were."The object which is based around the album artwork is a mystical force which has had a profound effect on our 'business man' played by Sasha. He struggles with it as it forces him to question his place within our narrative in the hall of this grand old building."The nature of the location and small nods in the art direction, a discarded red briefcase, are there to gently guide the viewer to what might be at play here. Sasha is being forced to confront his role within a system which is not in line with his true spirit."Salomé's character goes through a mini three part metamorphosis as she watches Sasha's opening freestyle before she takes center stage. These are comments on how women are forced to represent themselves within society. Her final form, her true self is bare footed, almost feral and she's made an outfit out of business men's ties."Sasha & Salomé come together as they are both overcome with a deep longing for the freedom this object provides. The final message 'All Times Leaves Is Me And You' ties back into Steven's original brief for what this song means, namely that your personal connections and the love you have for you nearest and dearest should supercede any attempt to win a rat race because they're the only thing that is real."

In this eerie, sensory video for Junodream, director Ned Botwood imagines ‘a day at the beach’ with the lights turned out.The video for The Beach is a languid montage of lunar beach scenes. Sand, swimmers, sunbathers, dogs and dust are all incongruously reframed at nighttime. Anonymous characters stare at the horizon, waiting for the wind to change. Making stark use of negative space and roaming spotlights, cameraman Joseph Dunn shoots the beach like a dreamy moonscape. This is emphasised by a silvery colour grade by Ruth Wardell at Time Based Arts. Echoes of Radiohead's Street Spirit, in fact, and the song happens to be a catchy indie rock anthem in the mould of that 90s classic.“I try not to stay at the beach after the sun’s gone down - It’s too eerie for me," admits Botwood. "Once the tourists go home, it’s just flat land, heat, bugs, wind and darkness. There’s so little visual context, you might as well be on the moon. We wanted to imagine what a beach looks like to someone who can only remember little dark parts of it.“I really really have to thank Joseph Dunn and his camera team, Kevin Corry and The Assembly Rooms, and Ruth Wardell and Time Based Arts, who were all so generous lending their skill to such a tiny project!”

Alexandr Kryshtal directs a poignant video promoting a free helpline for Ukrainians all over the world who are affected by the war in Ukraine.Contrasting present day vignettes with snapshots of memories from home, the video - funded by the UN and EU, who also support the helpline - is emotional and hard-hitting by focussing on one young lonely Ukranian woman's experience and the minimalist music track by Anton Malyshev keeps the focus on the carefully crafted visuals."In every project, I always try to convey feelings and build a story on it," Kryshtal says. "This one is based on my personal experiences, as well as the feelings of millions of Ukrainians that they have faced every day since 02.24.2022. This is how their life looks now. Those who were forced to leave their homes, separated from their loved ones, and get lost in unfamiliar places where they had to relocate."No matter who has what story, we all plunge deep into the darkness of modern reality and personal feelings, apathy, and depression. No matter how dark the situation is, there is always a light that can get into the depths of the soul and set on fire the life again. There is always a way out of darkness and it's essential to let the light into your heart."

Thomas Harrington-Rawle and Cathal McKeon direct a moving promo for East-London based singer and multi-instrumentalist Canty.Spanning a range of stylistic vignettes, the video intercuts shots of Canty riding an escalator with footage of daily life, switching between each with flickering image overlays.Building upon a distorted sense of place and time, the video mixes performance footage with surveillance style shots, following the artist around the city landscapes."I've been friends with James (Canty) for a while now and we've been working on a few videos together... he's one of the few artists I've met that's genuinely interested in finding the truth of experience in their art, it's always a pleasure to collaborate together," says Harrington-Rawle."We actually also used loads of scans of James's visual art on top of the actual video to create flickering overlays, I think those are my favourite moments in the video, that and the red bit!”

Freddie Cattaneo directs a captivating and witty portrait of British culture in his video for Master Peace, where a greasy spoon becomes a surprising venue for blossoming romance. Set in a café, we see a rotating selection of people from all backgrounds sitting at a table, including a businessman, women on their hen-do and a bored couple. As the video progresses, the characters come together in a riotous celebration of freedom, leaving behind their cares and worries for another time. "At the start, I wanted to create the feeling that everyone’s letting life pass them by," Cattaneo says. "As Master Peace performs Loo Song, the space transforms into a party full of youthful exuberance - unexpected romances spark, people kiss, argue and throw belongings around - momentarily released from the drudgery and routine of their everyday lives."My aim was to capture something quintessentially British by juxtaposing the stark, fluorescent overheads and drab decor of the café with an array of characters nevertheless laying claim to a life of glamour and drama. It’s a BBQ in the rain, a bikini on a cloudy day. In this respect, I was heavily inspired by Ewen Spencer’s photo series Young Love and the ethos of Martin Parr’s photography."

Although they have worked together for a while on other projects, Nathan Miller has not directed a J Hus video before - until now. For Hus's collab with Burna Boy, the pair crashed one of the biggest gigs this summer - Burna's huge show at the London Stadium in June - with Miller using all of his considerable documentary-making skills to make an electric video for the track.As he explains below, this was seat-of-the-pants stuff as Miller and his small camera team grabbed footage of the pair backstage at the show, and on-stage performing the track - with other candid footage of Hus partying with pals in between.Miller says: "I've worked with Hus for a few years now, shooting his documentary; we've built a great connection and have had a lot of good times over the years. Surprisingly, I had never been asked to work on a promo until now!"We wanted to maintain a doco feel, so we kept the crew to a minimum and simply filmed the day unfolding. The bulk of the video was shot at Burna's show in London, and we captured many candid moments. Burna Boy stepped off stage and joined us in the back to do a quick take before having to get back out there. It felt very eventful!"We were planning to film the finale at Burna's afterparty that evening, but that got cancelled last minute. So Hus, his friends, and I roamed around London heading to other parties. The party shots that made the cut were from his album launch. It worked well, I think. It kept the momentum up throughout. We graded the vid for colour, but the team preferred black and white in the end. I think it looks great and was a pleasure to work on!"