Dan Streit directs the new promo for Joji's Glimpse Of Us, highlighting the absurdity and misery of overly-masculine posturing. The grimy concept is packed full of questionable activities, including property destruction, setting off fireworks, public urination, and causing general chaos. Shot in a loose, DIY manner, the visuals feel characteristic of footage shared on social media, with a distinctively lo-fi feel and air of barely concealed anger.This is a brilliantly grim satire on a nihilistic, Incel-driven mentality - Jackass-style behaviour gone dark and run amok. The contrast between the chilling ballad and these riotous vignettes imbues the concept with a sense of melancholy and isolation. And Streit also has the heart and vision to reveal the self-destructive impact of the bravado.

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.

Jay Green returns with a hypnotic video for MiniKingz' New Skin Care, playing with viewers' perceptions of what we see in a mirror. Beginning with a woman singing the hypnotic intro to the track, then Benjiflow from MiniKingz is introduced, appearing in a white background in a mirror frame - only to pan through the mirror and reveal him looking into another mirror. As the light strobe blinks, the screen then turns to dark mode; a rave appears in the reflection featuring the other Minikingz members, Ragz and Oscar Worldpeace. The performance-led video then continues this effective in-camera trickery, corutney of Green's clever negotiation of the space and the work of art director Lucy Ashmore. There are a series of skilful transitions, where the viewer is left guessing whether a 'mirror-image' is a reflection or not, and lines are repeatedly blurred of what the visuals appear to be. Ultimately this is a brilliant framing device to present the energetic charm and smooth flows of the trio. But once it ends you will be tempted to rewind it, to figure out how it was done...

Brock Neal Roberts's new video for Sam Fender - his second for the South Shields singer-songwriter, after last year's MVA-nominated video for Seventeen Going Under - elevates an everyday story of teenage friendship with a clever visual device. In the video for Getting Started, we see four friends work their way down their tower block, picking each other up on the way as they prepare to head for a night out. And each stage is mainly presented as a three dimensional photo, the camera tracking through the boys as they are caught static, in the moment.Brock has mainly used in-camera effects to create this sense of hyperreality, with the young actors freezing their bodies in a physical way rather than achieving the effect in post-production - identical twins were used to play the same characters, to bring the complex blocking to life. Imaginative art direction assists to make this work, such as the spray of a deodorant can and smoke from a cigarette created with cotton wool.Sam Fender's performance is the final piece of the jigsaw, walking through the same night-time streets, the unseen narrator of the boys' lives. In the Director's Cut we are featuring here, he is slightly more incidental to the action than in the official release. Ultimately, it is a charming and positive representation of youth and young male friendship.

A remarkable film by Chiléan artists and filmmakers Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña for The Smile - a seemingly chaotic stream of visual consciousness, involving found objects, rubber arms, papier mache heads, wax, and lots of paint.Strictly speaking, its an animated piece. But León and Cociña's video for Thin Thing, although captured in stop motion photography (on what appears to be an ancient camera) is more like an ongoing, utterly unpredictable creative event. There is none of the order and control associated with the creation of animated work. That's what makes it mesmerizing.This is León and Cociña's first official music video commission. But they have been working together since 2007, have made numerous short films, including the award winning Lucia, and their first feature fiction film, La Casa Lobo (The Wolf House), premiered at the 68th Berlinale Film Festival in 2018.

Fenn O’Meally directs a touching promo for Lil Silva and Sampha, combining modern and archive home video footage, filmed in London and Jamaica. The concept for new track Another Sketch creates a symbiotic relationship between the past and the present, connecting the two worlds and sketching a visual and cultural history, placing the act of congregation at the heart of it all.Utilising a mix of both newly-created and vintage footage, the film explores the characters and zeitgeist of each time period, through a celebratory, emotional lens.The video is book-ended with the text 'he waves back home', and it's a wonderful way to encapsulate the entire concept in one short phrase. "This project has a special place in my heart," says O'Meally. "Until you dig deep you're unaware of just how many layers you're immersed in."From the genius of Silva's music to his community and their stories, the footage old and new and even the ripples of sound throughout - like the waves I recorded on a trip to Jamaica in February - there are so many moments of life past and present that contribute to this piece. "I always dream of making work that really and honestly makes you feel something deep within you. So this has been an incredibly fulfilling project, more than I could have ever anticipated. I'm so grateful to Bafic, Silva and Sampha for the opportunity."

James Slater completes his excellent series of videos for Leeds band Yard Act's first album The Overload with a superb valedictory effort for the album's final track 100% Endurance - starring iconic actor David Thewlis.Thewlis wakes up on a street bench, finding himself on a suburban housing estate, surrounded by its residents. They are familiar faces to anyone who has watched the previous Yard Act videos, as most have appeared in one or more, playing the characters that populate the 'Yard Act universe' - created by the band's frontman, James Smith. Smith has played some characters himself in the preceding videos - a dodgy magician (in Land Of The Blind), a slippery estate agent (in Payday), and obnoxious club owner Graham (in The Overload). But in 100% Endurance, Thewlis plays Smith, more or less. Appropriately he takes over lipsync duties for the album's least abrasive, most philosophical song, as a world-weary but wise figure wondering among his fellow housing estate inhabitants.James Slater then delivers an additional delicious curveball. Suddenly, a giant hand drops down into the scene - David Thewlis's. It picks up what turns out to be a tiny figurine of himself (or is it Smith?), from a miniature model version of the housing estate. It's a sudden, comic twist that resonates with the overriding theme of the song: 'what's it all about, anyway?...'[Thewlis] really bought into it all and delivered a brilliant performance, tying the whole thing together."Prior to shooting 100% Endurance, I'd already been lucky enough to shoot four videos from The Overload," confirms Slater. "It's given us the opportunity to create our own Yard Act cinematic universe, with characters and themes recurring across all the films. With this video we wanted to wrap everything up. "I thought we should have a go at answering (that question) by revealing that the universe (well, the Yard Act universe at least) is in fact a miniature model set, kept atop Thewlis' spare room. "James and David had been chatting for a while, as it turned out he was a big fan of the band. He let us know he'd be up for doing a video and thankfully liked the idea. We shot it in his native Blackpool. He really bought into it all and delivered a brilliant performance, tying the whole thing together. I think he'll go far!"It's testament to James Slater and his vision for bringing our songs to life every time.James Smith adds that his experience of making this video was a combination of enjoyment and disbelief. “It was great shooting this video," he says. "I barely had to do anything, and I didn’t have fake facial hair glued to [my] head for once."I still can’t believe David got involved. I was such a fan of his work from Naked through to Fargo, and when I told James Slater he was interested in working with us, he was so buzzing. A brilliant actor, and an absolute joy to watch work. Equally so, he is a thoroughly decent, down-to-earth person who is funny as fuck, and that goes a fair way I reckon."Smith also pays tribute to Slater's work across five videos for The Overload. “This video also stands as testament, once more, to James Slater and his vision for bringing our songs to life every time," he says. "I always knew we would revisit the world one last time to bring the whole concept of the album full circle, and I knew the final video would be for 100% Endurance. But once the album came out and touring kicked in, I never knew when we would find the time. Finally we did, and getting all the cast of characters back together felt lovely too."We’ve met so many ace people making these videos and the more you meet them, the easier it is. Bless everyone who was on board throughout. If no one figures it out in the next five years, I’ll do a thorough breakdown of all the videos with every reference, easter egg and narrative hint we stuck in there.”

Following the brilliant intensity of The Heart Part 5, something less intense but hardly less brilliant for N95 - another track from Kendrick Lamar's much anticipated and already much-dissected new album Mr Morale & The Big Steppers.As per, it's directed by Kendrick and Dave Free. And a series of powerful vignettes are beautifully photographed by DoP Adam Newport-Berra, with VFX work completed at Ethos Studio.