Calum Macdiarmid directs a cinematic promo for Jake Shears, inspired by the rich Americana of the Coen Brothers and Tarantino. The video for Too Much Music see the former Scissor Sisters frontman trading glances with a pair of strangers, before sharing a series of interconnected vignettes with each of them, in an arcade, motel and out on the street. The drama heats up in the manner of a glossy Hollywood neo-noir - and then we discover there is a twist in this glossily mounted storyline. The vibrant colours and slick styling certainly pay homage to cinema itself, and Jake Shears' captivating persona works perfectly with the concept.

Jordan Rossi directs a high-drama, glam rock-inspired promo for Adam Lambert's cover of Bonnie Tyler's bombastic classic.Rossi helms an effervescent visual for Lambert's take on Holding Out For A Hero, featuring a cast of bedazzled musicians, hidden behind glitterball helmets, who eventually strip to reveal their true, unique selves. From the pastel backdrop through to the styling and makeup, the video is a throwback to the glamorous excess of the 1980's, and is perfectly suited to the track."The idea behind the video is to throw away homogeneity and celebrate individuality, whatever form that may take," explains Rossi. "Adam is the perfect collaborator. We've shot together before, so had a shorthand going into this one. But he was great at really driving ideas forward. He wanted to do something fashion-orientated with a glam rock and camp twist. When researching the video, Rossi found himself inspired by some of the all-time greats in the industry."I did a lot of visual research for this video with photographers like Jean-Paul Goude being a big source of inspiration for the editorial setups," he says. "We also gave a cheeky nod to Robert Palmer's legendary, and often imitated, videos [for Addicted To Love and others] but again with our own camp twist - with glitterball wearing robots."At every stage of the video Adam and I sought to subvert traditional conventions of music videos, fashion and pop iconography to create a piece of work that was fun, tongue-in-cheek and expressive with an incredible cast."

Myles Whittingham's video for Emeli Sandé finally sees the light of day - over nine years after it was made - and it turns out to be an immensely powerful, must-watch experience.Beginning with the moment that a young man is told by his lover that he is ending the relationship, we witness the aftermath of this traumatic moment in real time. But centred around a brilliant performance by Kazeem Amore, the combination of Whittingham's direction and Sandé's soulful delivery transform this into an existential reflection upon the meaning of life, love, community, faith and mental health.As the main character heads across a busy street, to find solitude in an abandoned building, and heading inexorably for the rooftop, there is still room for interpretation as to his fate. But it is an incredibly moving and poignant piece of work from Whittingham. And as he reveals, he has waited a very long time for this exceptional video to be released. "It’s a funny one - we actually made this nine years ago, in the summer of 2013," he explains. "It was my first music video after leaving film school. I called in so many favours, all the extras are friends or family. And we’ve been sitting on it ever since, as for various reasons it never came out at the time - with me hoping one day it would see the light. "Emeli and I had initial discussions about many issues surrounding societal pressures, mental health, isolation, community and sexuality. Which led to touchpoints that we wanted to hit, with the title being ‘Who Needs The World’ I really wanted to show how someone can feel isolated and alone in the world even amongst its hustle and bustle."I really wanted to show the sense of community and the feeling of being isolated throughout. So decided to open up with the busy community shot seeing our lead having to wear a metaphorical mask to hide his pains, and there’s a beautiful moment where I think the lead actor Kazeem Amore nails that superbly! "I then wanted to allow him to have his isolated time, so wanted the second half of the video to show the juxtaposition between the two. Having him in an isolated environment allowed him to express his emotions in various ways before the culmination at the end - which I wanted to leave up to interpretation."

Mori beautifully captures how quickly life can change with one punch, in the video for Dan Fable's latest song One Punch Tommy.Based on true events, the video follows Tommy's journey to prison told with compelling sensitivity.Anchored by a stunning performance from the lead actor, the video explores the unintended consequences one moment in time can have, and the butterfly effect that ripples on from it. The stark, naturalistic cinematography leans into the real-word nature of the concept, and Mori's heartfelt direction helps guide viewers through the rollercoaster of emotions expressed during the runtime.

Directing duo Tearjerker - Hope Elliott Kemp and Ronan Corrigan - reunite with indie rock band The Academic for a cinematic tribute to the heist film genre. Set inside a bookies, the promo for new single Pushing Up Daisies stars the band as dejected gamblers, completely oblivious to a robbery going on around them.The second in a planned trilogy of videos for album Sitting Pretty, the video was shot at an abandoned electricity board in Bethnal Green, with an ambitious and very well-executed set build from scratch by production designer Ben Clark. In a big step up in scale for the directors, the video features thrilling action scenes, brilliant stunt work and a rather creepy set of costumes, and perfectly blends the offbeat conceptual elements of their previous collaborations with the group.“One of our favourite challenges is figuring out how we can fit the artists into the worlds we create," say TEARJERKER. "Bookies are grim places where dreams go to die, so we loved the idea of juxtaposing the high octane heist with the soul-destroyed punters whose lives revolve around the bet.“A lot of artists are nervous about doing anything other than a traditional performance video, but The Academic have never said ‘no’ to our weirdest ideas. At this point we’ve shot the band stuck inside washing machines, vending machines, a freezer, an abandoned water park and possibly the hardest challenge yet, on Zoom."For Sitting Pretty we wanted to push everything further and create a full cinematic world around the album."

Ian Roderick Gray tackles body horror through a poignant lens, in his affecting promo for On Man. The concept for Survive This focus on John, a man who is ravaged by a gruesome mutation affecting much of his upper body. After waking to find it has grown drastically and painfully overnight, and believing it to be terminal, he decides to end his life and die on his own terms, much to the anger of his longtime partner. In the same vein as the previous collaboration between artist and director Worse Than It Seems - which saw a woman afflicted with an extra eye in her skin - Gray has a knack at tackling complex narratives and themes through body horror elements, and this is another project that knocks it out of the park. In a nutshell, the video is a powerfully moving and uncompromising depiction of assisted suicide, exploring themes of love, mercy, dignity and mortality.I felt a responsibility to create a visual that would do justice to the haunting music."When On Man approached me to direct the music video for his latest single, I knew that I wanted to try and create another hybrid between drama and music video, but in a more refined way than our last effort," says the director."When he first played me the song I was overwhelmed. It was so incredibly raw and powerful and genuinely emotionally evocative. I definitely felt a heavy responsibility to create a visual that would do justice to the haunting music and to some extent, the song dictated the approach of the video."We bounced around some ideas and after reading an article about a tragic number of illegally performed assisted suicides that had occurred in France amongst elderly couples, some of whom were living with terminal conditions, I pitched an idea that was inspired by one specific story - and also from my experience of living with an illness. As a Type 1 Diabetic, this was also an opportunity to explore what it is like to live with a condition and how the condition itself can often be more of a burden for the people around you than for yourself."Survive This is a deeply personal music video to both myself and On Man - who added his own ideas and we wrote the script together. It has become one of the most rewarding projects I’ve been involved with."

Director trio Bleu Desert create an unsettling and controversial promo for French rap group S-Crew. The immersive concept follows a police car during a night-time patrol in Paris, cleverly shot using only interior and exterior car mounts, depicts the BAC (Anti-Criminality Brigade of the National Police) antagonising and abusing various people on the street - and planting evidence on their targets.The latter part of the clip sees the payback - the vehicle is vehicle commandeered by the S-Crew themselves, who take it on their own tour of the neighbourhood - and building to a fiery climax. Shot on 35mm to give the video a raw, cinematic aesthetic, this stirring and thought-provoking video is a must-watch introduction to an exciting new directing collective.

Truman & Cooper return to music video with a brilliantly gripping narrative piece for UK rapper Bourne. The rising Nottingham-based artist is shown journeying across Europe, on the run from his problems, whilst also spiralling into a hedonistic cycle of booze, sex and violence. The cinematic aesthetic is elevated by a minacious undercurrent of fear and trepidation, achieved through a breathless edit which reflects the emotional rollercoaster Bourne is experiencing. Terrific stuff.