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Music Videos are a dying art form. With my childhood ego peaking at the moment of transition from Rorry’s Pop Party to the very grown up MTV, pretty much all my music consumption came hand in hand with an epic visual - whether that was Kelly Rowland texting on an excel spreadsheet on ‘Dilemma’ or Katy Perry squirting whipped cream from her tits on ‘California Gurls’.

Either way, I really do miss cranking that Soulja Boy in my living room with my brother, both our eyes glued to that TV screen.  Now with the big boy streaming platforms commanding music consumption, music videos have been put on the back burner and are very much overdue a revival in to the way we, the mainstream, listen to music.

For the spookiest month of the year, I’ve gone very mainstream y’all. There was just so much to say about these music videos, so without further ado the highlights and lowlights of October were…

Music For a Sushi Restaurant - Harry Styles

Twitter lost its mind last week when Harry Styles dropped his music video for Music For A Sushi Restaurant and frankly so did I. After a shoddy video for 'Late Night Talking' and a lot of acting critique for his performance in Don’t Worry Darling, Harry has returned to the public eye in the only sensible way - in the form of a tentacle-heavy Merman. Directed by Aube Perrie, Squiddy Styles serves as food and entertainment for the sushi restaurant, metaphorising the slimey, exploitative systems of the music industry. GOD I love it when symbolism gets freaky. This metaphor is amplified by the two brilliantly-casted creepy industry men who lurk around Harry with eeriness in every scene. 

Sadly, the whole execution of this video doesn’t live up to its full potential. The set design of ‘Gill’s Lounge’ is excellent - from the kitchen to the green room to the bustling restaurant and stage. The framing off the shots are too often a bit off, in a way that confuses the scenes, making them appear fairly cluttered and paired with the over-editing of the transitions, the flow is thrown out the window - which is so frustrating because it’s all there but just not polished enough. The viewer’s eye cannot settle at all during the video, which of course feeds into a chaotic and disorienting intended after-taste, but it kind of blurs the whole thing into a bit of sensory mush. But with a bit more consideration, it could have been a refined mush!! Anyway, adding an extra point to this one because Harry looks unreal with a beard. *chef’s kiss* - 8/10

Shirt - SZA

Now don’t get me wrong, SZA is one of my favourite artists of all time, but her and music videos are a very unpredictable combo. Her latest singles released have been paired with pretty hit and miss self-directed videos: ‘Hit Different’ (mega hit), ‘Good Days’ (mega miss) - so I was pretty intrigued to see how the ‘Shirt’ video would compare. Pairing up with music video mogul Director Dave Meyers (who also created her video for ‘Drew Barrymore’), the ‘Shirt’ visuals follow a Bonnie and Clyde action-packed short film, packed with betrayal, pregnant nuns and gun violence.  First of all, Lakeith and SZA side by side is the boiling point of bi-panic.

Other than that, I found this video pretty flat and the narrative very thin. No offence to Dave Meyers, but I seem to find this increasingly with his more recent work, so much budget spent on amazing visual effects to create otherworldly, video game like action scenes but a muted attention to narrative, with little beyond the surface to read into. The video rounds off with a 1 minute teaser for her next single ‘Blind’, a pattern she’s been following at the end of each music video as she slowly feeds the SZA super fans with new music. Hats off to SZA though, she really does value the art form of music videos regardless of whether she consistently gets it right. - 4/10

I Drink Wine - Adele

Adele dropped the music video for her track ‘I drink wine’ this month - and staying true to her word, she spends the whole seven minutes drinking wine. The visuals follow a 70 lb Valentino gown-donning Adele on a rubber ring, vibing and floating down stream. Think yummy mummy takes rubber dingy rapids. The video has timeless vibes to it as the visuals play up to a simple yet surreal set design with a green river, pink sky and WONDERFUL synchronised swimmers.  The addition of cameo love interest Kevin Sampson was a bit thinly used in the video and unnecessary, but I know the facebook wine moms would’ve squealed when she batted him off. You don’t need a man, girl. She floats down the river of life, reminiscent of the flow and lyrical content of the song itself, on an ongoing stream of self-discovery and realisation. - 7/10

Beautiful (2022 version) - Christina Aguilera

A notable mention of this month was Christina Aguliera’s 20th anniversary music video for  her banger ‘Beautiful’. First of all, an anniversary video for epic tunes like this should happen way more often, so I was very excited to see this. The video itself is shot and graded beautifully but is very stoic and slow. She also took out the iconic “Don’t Look at Me” at the start of the song which immediately ruined my mood. The original video was so of its time and actually explored identities that weren’t shown often in media, whereas this new visual isn’t pushing any boundaries, especially in 2022. The end displays a phone with blood pouring out the bottom with a written message about social media being bad for your body image and mental health (shock), and a link to her website for information and resources. Of course, I went on her website to see this for myself and you have to scroll past a load of album promo and merch before you arrive at a mere THREE links to other sites for mental health aid. Oh okay. 1 point for the beautiful cinematography in the re-vamp, and 0 points for the lack of integrity. - 1/10

Bruddanem / Crack Sandwich - JID

Moving a little less mainstream to JID’s ‘Bruddanem / Crack Sandwich’, popping to fan favourites off his latest album The Forever Story, into one visual spectacle.

Cinematography is the word. As the drug bust unfolds in a slow-mo action film sequence, the stunning shots flit between the violent scenes and shots of a parallel universe of more wholesome alternatives to the reality. JID hovers above, an angelic figure, rapping as the scene unfolds. The second half of the video dulls a little, taking place in prison with not much story to follow, but uplifted by striking frames of JID on the phone, dynamically reminiscing about a family brawl in New Orleans as the video visualises it in sequence. With JID’s songs lyrically being so animated, it’s great to see this come to life aesthetically - especially in hip-hop where music videos are too often used as a means to show off cars and bitches, following a copy and paste format, not giving songs their justice. - 7/10

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