Lauzza and Bawo link up once again, this time with help from Reek0, to remind us to check in on our friends as much as our inboxes. The video for Same Team encapsulates the monotonous 9-5 office environment, and sees Bawo, Reek0 and a handful of office characters drudging away at their desks, counting down the minutes till they can get a break. Incorporating 90's computer technology, anachronistic art direction and a flurry of dynamic visual effects (including some cool reverse desktop overlays), it's another hit for Lauzza and team, and a perfect complement to the track.

An ageing Matt Healy reminisces about the good old times, in Samuel Bradley's promo for The 1975. The wistful video for Oh Caroline sees the singer revisit an empty old hall, quickly revealed to be the venue of an old gig, where he met the namesake of the song. With brilliant practical effects, seamless VFX transitions and atmospheric cinematography, the video is a charming addition to the group's videography, and a sneak peek into the future, where each band member looks strikingly good for their age. And interestingly, according to Bradley's Instagram, the group didn't even see each other in makeup until shooting time. "I didn’t want any of the band seeing each other as old men until calling action so that their reactions would be 100% genuine," Bradley wrote on IG. "We ran them through prosthetics separately and kept them apart with poly boards on the stairs whilst Matty sat at the table in the cafe. It was really lovely to witness."

Director duo Grin Machine - that's Dan Streit and Cole Kush - create a mind-boggling promo for A$AP Rocky, combining tropes of hip hop videos - including Rocky's - with high concept Nineties comedy Weekend At Bernie's, delivered in the directors' wildly experimental comedic style. Released in collaboration with EA’s new videogame Need For Speed: Unbound, the video for Shittin' Me opens with Rocky at the height of his career, barking orders at office employees.But after an unfortunate crowd-surfing incident, Rocky collapses and dies. So his entourage then embark on various methods to keep the Rocky bandwagon/gravy train on the road.This involves their desparate attempts to puppeteer Rocky's lifeless body (as per Bernie's, and the DANIELS' debut feature Swiss Army Man) but eventually they revert to building a new, almost-realistic version of Rocky to replace the old. And hope nobody notices - even though he seems quite a lot nicer than the original Rocky.This gives full reign to Streit and Kush's leftfield aesthetics in a breathless blur of frenetic, AI-enhanced visuals. The whirlwind of imagery and textures create a hypnotic, almost out-of-body experience, and builds to a climax of haunting vignettes that look vomited up straight from the Uncanny Valley. “It was this weird and beautiful situation where Rocky had no notes and was fully on board to try out anything with our bizarre narrative.,” explain the Grin Machine pair. "We’re super grateful for that." The directors took an atypical approach to their unique production design, curating some set decoration and using AI tools to build upon the setups on the three day shoot. Streit and Kush handles all the editing and VFX themselves, implementing experiments from various AI tools including Stable Diffusion, Dall-E 2, RunwayML, amongst others.“We set out to make something that somewhat combined a goofy 80’s-90’s comedy movie narrative, told through a bizarre and frenetic mashup of experimental AI visuals, while still treating it as a 'cool rap video'. We HOPE we have succeeded with this!”

Lauzza and Kibo create a world that belongs in a Sega Megadrive, racing through different random scenarios in the aptly titled Mr Lamborghini Deathslide.Kibo and his pals are hanging out at home when an ancient VHS tape is discovered and slotted in the old VHS player.Cue a series of sharp, snappy, primary coloured yet visually fuzzy vignettes as Kibo raps a stream of memorable one-liners while popping up in an array of different costumes, situations and characters.There's an abundance of wild playfulness and visual inventiveness on display here to neatly dovetail with the infectious energy of the track - which happens to be a UK Garage banger of the old-school. So the lo-fi old school console vibe of the visuals is a perfect match.It's as if the viewer has dusted off their PS1 or N64 for old time sake. Well, you cannot play it, but you can certainly watch it, again and again.

Joel Barney directs a moving promo for Man-Made Sunshine - the new solo project from Nothing But Thieves frontperson Conor Mason - presenting an ever-evolving scrapbook, exploring the unique and beautiful relationships shared between sons and fathers."We shot with pairs of real fathers and sons in this video, to delve deep into the complex relationships they experience together," says Barney of his video for Big. "Every single frame in this video was shot digitally and then hand-printed and scanned to create an analogue, ever evolving scrapbook," he explains.The handmade aesthetic creates a textural, tactile feeling, which lends a certain relatability to the footage - we have all seen similar photo albums and books with our own family members, and this adds to the viewer's emotional investment into the concept.

Aoife McArdle returns to music videos, teaming up with Belfast's dynamic electronic producer/DJ duo Bicep to create a breathtaking music video that echoes the stylish TV series she helped create.Powered by signature Bicep production style of layered elements and beats in the track Water - with vocals by Clara La San - McArdle takes us on a trip where the essential drama of the scenario drifts into surrealism and eventually, existential absurdity. A female patient (played by Angela Nwagbo) is being transported by two hospital staff members on a hospital gurney down a pure white hospital corridor - which goes on and on. This, it becomes evident, is a journey with no end in sight - perhaps no end at all. What is the point of this journey, and apparent emergency? Is the patient, sometimes under a oxygen face mask, and then not, actually ill at all?Rooms adjacent to the corridor reveal odd arrangements that exacerbate the sense of dreamlike unreality. As the patient gains agency and the physical scope of the film starts to expand, each new location takes the form of a different stream of her consciousness.McArdle creates this psycho-drama through the beautifully crafted development of a visual aesthetic, which will be familiar to those who have seen Severance, the acclaimed Apple TV+ drama that she has worked on as both director and producer - and which she discussed on The Promonews Podcast, earlier this year.As in the TV series, the pristine production design contributes to the sense of unease and dislocation. But here if anything McArdle gets the chance to break down the separation between recognisable reality and a surreal fiction even more - and play in the realm of the psyche.

Omar Jones, director of impressive videos for the likes of Pusha T, Isaiah Rashad ft Lil Uzi Vert and Doechii - and recently signed to Riff Raff Films in London - has confronted the subject of mental health head-on in his stunning video for LA hip-hop artist Ab-Soul.The rapper took a six year break from music as a result of mental health issues that led him to attempt suicide. In the video for Do Better, Jones and Ab-Soul actually recreate this suicide attempt, where he fell from a building resulting in serious injury and sight loss.It is a tough subject that Jones handles with both sensitivity and flair, with the brilliant use of visual effects within the almost fragile black and white aesthetic. Most importantly, the dignity and humanity of Ab-Soul shines through. You really do get a sense of him coming to terms with his life, disability and all, and in spire of everything, being in a better place.OMAR JONES"Moosa Tiffith from TDE initially came to me wanting the video for Do Better to be based on a real tragic event in Soul’s life. The fact that part of his story was being revealed in this video meant it had to be portrayed correctly and lensed using an autobiographical approach. Moosa’s close friendship with Soul was instrumental in making sure there was an open line of communication between me and Soul. This was a delicate story to entrust to a stranger at the time, and his involvement made Soul comfortable."I felt a deep sense of responsibility, not only to Soul, but to all who struggle with their mental health, and deal with thoughts of suicide. In the end, the song’s message is a positive one, encouraging people to face themselves and focus on their self-improvement. Soul faces loss, regret, depression but emerges stronger on the other side.The hardest part was to ask Soul to revisit the darkest moments of his past. I felt the weight of every shot..."The video shows what one sees on their way down, the moments that lead up to it, Soul’s constant conflict with the burden of the past and alternate realities surrounding the decision to jump. What does one see in those final moments? How does the world appear from such a heavy perspective? It’s hard to even begin to imagine, but my approach uses a non-chronological edit and flow to evoke the brain frantically reaching for any memory it can (while it can), while the concept of time completely shifts."Shooting it was tough. Because the video is based on true events, the hardest part for me was to ask Soul to revisit the darkest moments of his past. I felt the weight of every shot and tried to share some of that emotional load as the director. During the ledge scene, I had Soul thirteen stories up, looking down at the drop. He was secured with wires, yet it still felt like the longest shot of my life. I couldn’t wait to yell 'cut'. Throughout the shoot, he was extremely collaborative and willing to explore every option. I am humbled and grateful for Soul's trust. In his words: 'I’ve cried enough about it, so I’m choosing to laugh now.' "

Bertil Vorre directs a charmingly surreal promo for Mads Langer, that was nominated at this year's UK Music Video Awards in the Best Pop Video - Newcomer category. Written for a Danish music television show where an artist is asked to write a song to Denmark, Ukendt Land is a song about looking up and finding light in dark times—as well as accepting that any light will always come with darkness.Taking place within an absurd (yet strangely familiar) dystopian Denmark, the video follows a man lost in life, who takes steps to find meaning and catharsis. Boasting ingenious production design from Martin Johannsen of Van Horn alongside striking VFX work from Onki VFX, the video is a dazzling spectacle, and great fun to watch.Just don't attempt any of these stunts at home kids.