5 videos you might have missed this week
AlunaGeorge – ‘Just a Touch’
Available on the You Know You Like It EP, out now on Tri Angle, this gently dance-able track follows smoothly on from R&B duo AlunaGeorge’s first single. The clean, monochrome style sits easily with the slick lines of their music, so it’s easy to see why directors Laurence Matthew Blake and Matilda Finn are sticking to the established formula, carving a bold shape on the horizon for these rising pop stars.
Usher ft. Rick Ross – ‘Lemme See’
Although not quite reaching the peak of ‘Climax’ (but what could?), this latest single from Usher’s Looking 4 Myself LP has falsetto notes that melt in the ear and a beat that’s almost as addictive; even a verse from Rick Ross only enhances the smooth journey of the track. In the video, self-materialising tattoos, ropes intertwined with skin and near-uncomfortably close shots make for a tactile, tantalising experience, continuing the seductive strand of the R&B star’s album (or even career) in general.
Wymond Miles – ‘Pale Moon’
You can practically taste the hairspray and dry ice in this simple yet evocative video for the Fresh & Onlys guitarist Wymond Miles’ solo project. ‘Pale Moon’ appears as hazy, sultry and brooding as a romantic, whimsical glimpse of the moon in the sky; watch it here via Stereogum.
Fiona Apple – ‘Every Single Night’
Fiona Apple makes a startling, unsettling return to her form with this arrestingly eerie, beautiful new video. Featuring plenty of sealife in abnormal settings, the digging up of a brain and too many other bizarre images to list here, it’s a dreamlike journey through the mind of a fantastical and truly rare artist. Plus, it shows that artist wearing a squid as a hat.
Best Coast – ‘The Only Place’
Ace Norton directed this sunkissed video for the LA pop duo’s latest dose of surf pop. Taken from their second album, also called The Only Place, this video is stuffed full of the stock images you might associate with summery Americana – all tousle-haired, beautiful people cheerleading and jumping into pools. It veers on cliche in a way that’s not quite tiresome, but actually comforting and cheerful in its refusal of subtlety.
Bonus: Chris Brown vs Drake
If you missed it, it’s also worth watching this life-like reconstruction of the brawl that went down between Chris Brown and Drake in a New York bar this week. The opportunity to be a fly on the wall in this situation would have been priceless, but perhaps this animation is the next best thing.
