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Get the Promonews daily round up
Sau Ali follows up the fiery promo for I'm OK with a vibrant sequel for More Parties. Moving to the back of a tour bus with her friends, some music and all of the good vibes, the video is a breezy celebration of life with a simple yet absorbing concept. Boasting frantic yet intimate camerawork and a cycling colour wheel of lights, it's a feel-good visual anchored by Highlyy's playful performance.
Rob Ulitski - 30 days ago
Xavier Dolan directs a rousing promo for Elton John & Brandi Carlile.The video for Swing For The Fences is an emotional exploration of sensuality and liberation. Featuring a brilliant dance performance at its core, the video ponders religion, expression and societal expectations with a stunning, anachronistic aesthetic. The track itself is an anthem for LGBT+ youth, and this theme is explored through the presence of an enigmatic love interest in the latter part of the video. Imagining a life of love, sensuality and freedom, it's a brilliant - and important - video, especially with LGBT+ rights being dismantled in the US and across the world.
Rob Ulitski - 1 month ago
Sam Taylor Edwards directs a poignant, evocative promo for Tsatsamis.Exploring an abstract world marked by vintage textures and artificial environments, the video has a dreamlike feel, stylistically leaning into shallow focus and unusual composition. Performance vignettes are intermixed with intimate shots of bodies and ethereal memories - experty edited by Taylor Edwards himself - creating a disorienting and calmly chaotic vibe. "I wanted the video to feel contemporary, but pay homage to the late Nineties work of Moby and Madonna," explains Taylor-Edwards. "The murky greens and ethereal blues have already been instrumental in the world that Tsatsamis and I have been building together, and I think the bleak and desolate art direction really compliments that."The song itself is about a painful memory which is why I felt using such references gives the overall tone of the video a feeling of nostalgia for the artist, as well as the viewer. I’ve also just always loved Nineties music videos, perhaps due to my own nostalgia."
Rob Ulitski - 2 months ago
Ollie Bradley-Baker ponders anxiety and the world at large in his intimate promo for Keyside. The video follows actor Matthew McDonnell as he heads to a house party, where the band are playing. His anxiety initially holds him back, until he is able to overcome his fear and watch the group at another location. It's a lovely little video with a thought-provoking theme and great performances.
Rob Ulitski - 2 months ago
ABOVEGROUND'S latest video for Greentea Peng - following the singer's return with TARDIS (Hardest) last year - is an atmospheric portrait of the human condition, featuring water in various forms as a central thematic element. From flooded apartments to rain and misty droplets on the bus window, the video explores the intimate connection between our emotions and the world at large, across a montage of cinematic vignettes. With a dreary, naturalistic aesthetic and a brilliant grade, it's a visual that matches the downcast lyrics perfectly.
Rob Ulitski - 3 months ago
Mumford & Sons return to action with an irresistibly joyous video by Charlie Robins in which some of the band's most loyal fans listen to their new music for the first time, capturing their instinctive initial reactions.Fans and friends of the band were invited to hear Rushmere - title track of Mumford & Sons' forthcoming new album and their first release in over five years - at an event in London in December. In a stripped-back studio setting and with multiple cameras, Robins' then focusses on each person, filmed individually or as a pair, and finds them reacting in a range of very personal ways to the song. Opening with a mosaic-like grid of each person at the start of each take, the video then transitions into a glorious rollercoaster of emotions - the dawning pleasure of hearing a song that revives the band's early sound, turning into dancing in some cases, but also quieter, intimate contemplation and even a few tears.The genuine reactions of discovery from a group of ordinary people with a shared love of the band - some of whom came a very long way to attend - are fascinating and heartwarming to behold, captured in Jack Exton's cinematography and Ed Cooper's insightful edit. A delightful visual that is both affecting and celebratory. "Humans being humans is such a simple concept," explains Robins. "We decided to run with it and do a bit of a forensic study of Mumford’s fans and friends as they encountered the new music."We shot with eight cameras - perhaps slightly OTT but nothing beats good old-fashioned realness. Everything we captured was of the moment and honest and I think it really shows in the final film."What a lovely bunch of people."
Rob Ulitski - 3 months ago
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Harvey Pearson directs a plaintive promo for Victor Ray, Strandz and Kojey Radical. The captivating video for Sticks & Stones leans into an intimate style, making space for lingering performance shots and abstract cutaways. Ensuring each artist has their time in the spotlight, the video effortlessly transitions from solo to group shots, with a fresh and contemporary edge. "When directing the video, I wanted to create a performance video that allowed each artist to shine - both individually and in their interactions with one another," Pearson explains. "Victor, Kojey, and Strandz each bring such distinct and dynamic styles to their performances, and it was exciting to embrace and highlight their unique energy."It was equally important to carve out a space for Victor to tell his story, particularly hearing him deliver his first rap verse - giving the video a sense of personal narrative that complements the collaborative energy of the track."By combining stripped-back yet bold visuals with moments of intimacy and connection, I aimed to amplify the emotion and individuality that makes [the song] so powerful."
Rob Ulitski - 4 months ago
Matilda Harding-Kemp directs an evocative, gently surreal promo for ukelele-strumming jazz singer Madeline Rose Witney.The video for Behind Those Eyes traces Madeleine's personal journey in London, where another ordinary night at a club becomes extraordinary. As she performs, the room transforms into a mirror of her inner world, revealing a strange encounter with alternate versions of herself, through a collection of memories and raw, captivating music.Interspersed with offbeat portraits of people in the crowd - often shot in an intimate, off-kilter angle - the video highlights the challenges of making it as a female jazz musician in London; the love and fear of expression on stage and in contrast, the intimate moments of contemplation.Shot at The Mildmay Club in North London, with a strong colour palette in the cinematography by Chaimuki and Carline Morin's grade, it's lovely work with a very appealing, introspective aesthetic.
Rob Ulitski - 5 months ago
The dancefloor comes to life as director duo UNCANNY pay homage to the spirit of rave culture for Disclosure. The concept for the video for Disclosure's Arachnids is deceptively simple on paper - POV shots of dancers entranced by the music. But the magic of the visual is in the performances, which transition through waves of euphoria and excitement. With unwavering eye contact and captivating energy, the performance vignettes interweave with abstract, textural cutaways, all connected by the beat and the musical experience.The video immerses viewers in the track’s highs and lows, inviting them to savor the shared experience and reconnect with the raw energy of the rave scene. Another very conceptually strong, unmissable video from Elliot Elder and George Muncey, aka UNCANNY.
Rob Ulitski - 6 months ago
ABOVEGROUND direct a rousing promo for the return of Greentea Peng. The video for TARDIS (hardest) speeds ahead with a quick-cut performance montage, set in and around a high-rise building. Shot on a custom-rigged Bolex REX5, the cinematography contrasts fluid drone shots and intimate, handheld camerawork, to create a lively, stirring atmosphere. It's the first of a series of videos to come from the artist's new album.
Rob Ulitski - 6 months ago
Lisa Lewis and Samuel Veal direct a new music video of a song from Broadway musical Swept Away - The Avett Brothers’ A Gift for Melody Anne.The heartfelt performance unfolds in an intimate bar setting, captured in a breezy, light manner. It's a jolly old time, with the musicians crowding around the singers, evoking a late night pub lock-in and all the mischief that comes with it.
Rob Ulitski - 6 months ago
Claryn Chong directs a sensual exploration of blossoming love, in her promo for Biig Piig. The video for Decimal focuses in a couple’s relationship, intimacy and feelings of being in love; they’re hanging out in the bedroom, laughing, kissing. There's a faint knock at the door, but they can't hear it, lost in the track and each other's bodies. Peppered with fast-cut still image portraits and increasingly vibrant lighting, it's an ultra-intimate yet carefree visual, which exudes a sense of freedom and adventure.
Rob Ulitski - 7 months ago
Following Promonews' coverage of 2 HOT 4 THIS back in July, Claryn Chong now presents the entire three-part film for LYAM's album release. The film follows LYAM through different emotional wavelengths as he battles with the feelings of being stuck - in this case literally, in a human-sized cage - before finally choosing to let go. We deal with feelings of arrogance in 2 HOT 4 THIS, despair in MERRY GO ROUND, and finally acceptance in METROPOLIS, where he finally lets himself turn into a monster if that means he can break free.It's an excellent concept that makes the most of the limited location, creatively experimenting with camera techniques and lingering, intimate shots of the artist. Building in intensity, the concept builds to a frantic climax, and is absorbing from start to finish.
Rob Ulitski - 7 months ago
Jamar Harding directs an intimate live promo for singer and actress Mandeep. The acoustic live video for Bunny Boiler features a stripped-back performance from Mandeep and guitarist Pat McManus, and in a full circle moment, was shot in Los Angeles on the set of CSI: Vegas, the show in which she stars. Drawing inspiration from the show's sinister finale, in which the CSI: Vegas team realizes that they've been chasing the wrong villain all season, Bunny Boiler is a creepy yet darkly humorous tale of an obsessed girlfriend stalking her ex.If you enjoy watching the acoustic session, be sure to check out the official video here.
Rob Ulitski - 8 months ago
