I can't believe I'm posting a Facebook music video within my blog, but the official YouTube music video has embedding disabled, hence why I've used the Facebook video. Both versions are the same, so I'm all good to go with using this. There was a hell of a lot of new releases on this backdated Friday however, most didn't have music videos, a couple released music videos after the release of the single, and one or two happened to release their song mid-week for Valentine's Day; therefore making this quite the difficult choice for me. I chose this one, because I initially wrote it up for CelebMix, and I can't help but adore this song. I truly believe Triana Park was one of the most underrated acts at Eurovision 2017. Watch the frontwoman of Triana Park, Agnese Rakovska, find life lonely as she wishes she had a home to go to in this music video for "Home".
Triana Park are a four-piece electronic pop-rock band from Latvia. They consist of Agnese Rakovska, Artūrs Strautiņš, Edgars Viļums, and Kristaps Ērglis. They are quite the name in their home country, having competed in Latvia's national selection for Eurovision a total of five times. Upon their sixth attempt (after a five-year break) in 2017, they managed to win and finally got to represent Latvia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Line". Unfortunately, they only managed to get 21 points in their Semi-Final placing them 18th; failing to qualify for the Grand Final. This new song is the follow-up track to the Eurovision song, proving that Triana Park are a strong act who will consistently give us addicting tracks. The song is apparently the second single from their upcoming album, which is set to be released on 18 April 2018.
Directed by Ivars Burtnieks, this music video is a narrative piece that has a slight performance throughout. Agnese Rakovska displays her lonely life that also touches upon mental health issues as she sings this song with all the heartfelt emotions that give us chills every time we hear this song.
The opening scene sees her in a convenience store, where she grabs a bunch of items and walks slowly away - is this how you buy stuff in Latvia? Because the shopkeeper barely bats an eyelid. She then steals the park ranger's car and drives off. That is until her mental health illusions appear where a double of herself can be seen laughing in the back of the truck. She ditches the car and starts to walk; she attempts to hitchhike, but no such luck. and the lights in every house she walks pass turn off.
The last part of the music video sees her looking through a window, watching a family show love to one another as they gather in the living room. Agnese Rakovska is clearly craving that in this song and the music video, so much so she bangs against the window, desperately wanting to be a part of that, before disappearing.
This music video has it all and really works with the song. It's missing the energy of Triana Park, maybe because there aren't any scenes of them performing collectively as a group; however, everything else fits perfectly well and really manages to show off the song perfectly.
Can you tell that I'm on a Hunter Hayes obsession? This is my backdated Thursday Revisit and I can't believe I haven't watched this before now. I'm also surprised to find out that this song was his debut single. He has to be one of the most underrated male musicians in the world, and have you seen how many instruments he plays in this music video - what a way to represent himself. Hunter Hayes is a star-in-the-making and one song, just one song, will eventually go viral and chart worldwide; it just has to. Watch Hunter Hayes show off his musical abilities whilst performing this powerful and heart-hitting song in this music video for "Storm Warning".
Hunter Hayes is a country music star from America. He's had a few hits, with "Wanted" being his most known and most popular track. He's recently been heading down a country-pop music style in the past couple of years and I'm beyond excited for new music from him - we need another album. He's destined for global success, just listen to his voice, just watch how he can confidently play a variety of musical instruments. "Wanted" should've been his global sensation, and it got pretty close, but I'm sure that he'll have one soon. This song was his debut single and didn't bring chart success all that much. "Storm Warning" was written by Hunter Hayes, Gordie Sampson, and busbee.
Directed by Brian Lazzaro, this music video is a pure performance piece and almost feels like a showcase video. Throughout, Hunter Hayes presents to the world what his capabilities are as an artist, all the while delivering an infectious song that I just simply adore - how was this not a hit?
Throughout there are filters used, emphasising colours and shadows whilst also bringing in segmented video so that more than one piece of footage could be shown at the same time. It certainly brings an interesting aspect to the viewers and gives us more than double the stage presence that Hunter Hayes unleashes. There's also a brilliant snippet where six different versions of Hunter Hayes' are playing different instruments in one frame - so clever.
What we know from this music video is that Hunter Hayes can sing, play the acoustic guitar, play the electric guitar, play the bass guitar, play the piano, play the drums, and play the bouzouki. Now, that is what I like to call a proper artist. He's developed in music completely and this is what truly allows him to shine. This music video is just a pure brilliant performance piece, it's just missing relatability to the song, a slight bit of narrative would've stolen the show - maybe even a woman walking around the set would've worked perfectly. It's just missing that slight thing.
I am so mad at myself for being so far behind on my blog, but I am determined to catch myself up. To do so, covering music videos I have previously reviewed for CelebMix will certainly help. This is the case with this amazingly addictive track, "Strangers", by Kiri T. She sure knows how to perform and she put her heart into this one and it has really paid off. The song is perfection and the music video accompanies the song well. I also interviewed this amazing singer-songwriter for CelebMix, so I highly suggest you check that out too. Watch Kiri T perform her song to the camera as smoke, butterflies, slow-motion effects switch up the scenes in this music video for "Strangers".
Kiri T, real name Kiri Tse, is a singer-songwriter from Hong Kong who had a hit with a Lucian Remix of her song "Twenty-Something". She's been focusing on her career ever since, but not just singing and songwriting, she goes further, doing production and video directing. This woman does it all and I'm so in awe of her hard-work and effort. She's someone who is so devoted to what she's doing that she wants to be a part of it all, and how can we not support someone as amazing as that? I also wrote up about the release of this track for CelebMix. She's certainly someone to watch. The song was written by Kiri T. The production comes from Kiri T and Matthew Sim.
Directed by Endy Chow Jau Gwok Yin and Kiri T, this music video is a performance piece with a few narrative scenes that doesn't create a story but links in well with the song as a whole. Kiri T has thought of every minute detail for this and it works.
In my exclusive interview with her for CelebMix, she mentioned that the song is about her "perspective of inebriation, meeting/interacting with someone when you are under the influence." This whole music video screams exactly that. From the smoke to the literal translation of the lyrics of someone rolling a cigarette; from the slow-motion effects, which we'll come to in a bit, to the graphics used. They really have transported us into this new world that works with the song perfectly.
As for Kiri T's performance, she's just amazing. She clearly wanted to get the message of the song across to the viewers at home, and that's exactly what she does in the visual. She's got a stunning energy about her that we all can relate to. As for the slow-motion stuff, she exudes detail and has clearly thought this through completely. This music video deserves nothing less than this rating.
Another backdated day closer to the Galantis gig, which I went to and reviewed for CelebMix, so here's another Galantis review. This one looks like a really low budget music video which is surprising since it followed up "Peanut Butter Jelly" - like how does that even make sense? Regardless, I feel like it has an Eric Prydz "Call On Me" feel to it and it does seem quite a throwback to those music workout DVDs - although this choreography is pretty intricate at times. Watch a dance troupe nail workout choreography which could be considered sexual at times in this music video for Galantis' single "In My Head".
Galantis are a Swedish duo who have certainly made a name for themselves. They consist of Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Linus "Style Of Eye" Eklöw. Before Galantis, they had made their names known in the songwriting world, separately. It's amazing to see how far they've pushed for their career and how much they plan to keep going to become the big stars they clearly deserve to be. This song may have been the follow-up to "Peanut Butter Jelly" but it didn't ride on the previous single's success, only managing to chart on the US Billboard Dance Chart and on the Flanders Ultratip Chart. "In My Head" was written by Christian Karlsson, Henrik Jonback, Jennifer Decilveo, Jimmy Koitzsch, and Linus Eklöw.
Directed by Dano Cerny, this music video is a pure performance visual from a dance group of Sea Foxes- the animal that's identified with Galantis and features on many of their cover artwork. It does have an Eric Prydz "Call On Me" feel to it but a lot less sexy and a much lower quality.
We can't deny the quality of the choreography. It relates and is intricate at times; even sexual but in a comedic way. The team proved that they're high-quality dancers and more than showcase their abilities. The sequences are, on occasion, easy to follow allowing viewers at home to copy the routine, giving us a throwback to those workout DVDs where you copy the dance moves or even the video games such as Just Dance.
Overall, it would've been stronger if it was filmed in high-quality, the low-budget style just makes it very unappealing. The dance is engaging throughout and the neon colours definitely liven the whole thing up.
I have to admit, I have been disliking Jason Derulo's recent music videos because of the sexual exploiting of women, and just when I was going to forgive him since I actually enjoyed the first scenes in this music video, he has to flip it and use that golden glitter scene - just no! I'm fed up of seeing these sorts of music videos from him, the same thing could be presented differently and it would still work. At the time of this backdated blog post, Drake was still number one with "God's Plan"; the music video, of which, isn't out until 16th February, and it's only the 12th. So, it opens up the UK top 10, on this date, to my Chart Mondays review, hence why I chose this one. Watch Jason Derulo dance and sing with four backup women dancers, and the occasional backup male dancers whilst French Montana sits in a golden room with almost naked women in this music video for "Tip Toe".
Jason Derulo, real name Jason Desrouleaux, is definitely one of the biggest male artists in the world right now. His constant releases and collaborations gain him incredible chart numbers in a variety of countries. His first few were honest and real with incredible heart-felt lyrics; lately, the content has been very sexualised, and it's no surprise that those new tracks, such as "Swalla" and "Get Ugly" hasn't fared well on the US Billboard charts. Regardless, he's done well in the UK and gained some average chart numbers in other countries too. He's always on form. For this track, he collaborated with French Montana, real name Karim Kharbouche, who made his name internationally famous by releasing worldwide smash "Unforgettable" which features Swae Lee. He continues to establish a name for himself and is definitely someone we're all watching at this very moment. This song was written by Philip Kembo, Jason Desrouleaux, Soaky Siren, Karim Kharbouche, Tinashe Sibanda, and Johnny Mitchell. Uncredited vocals come from Soaky Siren.
Directed by Jason Derulo, himself, this music video starts off with an interesting dialogue, which then transforms into some killer choreography for all involved. This initially looks like a great thought-out performance-based music video.
The jungle theme may not relate to the song, but we could ignore that as Jason Derulo shows off with brilliant dancing. He's always managed to bring us exciting dance moves throughout most of his music videos giving us great energy and a perfect performance. The dancing is just, wow!
Then we switch to a snowy Japanese scene, which also doesn't relate and is quite a contrast, but could also be forgiven since killer choreography is here too. Everything is brilliant until the gold glitter scene comes in - this is not something I want to see or watch. Since when was it acceptable to put naked women in music videos, most of them are half-naked, but come on! There's no need whatsoever, and since there are no guys even topless in this, they're clearly downgrading women and it's just not right, especially after the #MeToo movement. Not only that, but French Montana just looks uncomfortable in his scene, whereas Jason Derulo pulls facial expressions that make him look like a pubescent teenager who has stumbled across naked women.
Overall, this music video goes down in my estimation the more I watch it and review it. Seriously, women act as animals in this visual and this is despicable to see. Luckily, Jason Derulo gets kudos for his dancing, and the women bring fire when it comes to dancing too. The choreography is just simply amazing and saves this music video.
I've found it, I've found it, I've found it. I've been hoping that one day I'll come across a music video that just contains dancers that is an amazing music video; and, here it is. This is flat-out amazing, We have choreography that is artistic, relates to the song, and is executed brilliantly; and, then we have the editing which is beyond anything I've come across before. This is a music video we've needed in our lives for some time - how on earth have I only just come across this? Time to rectify that, this is my new favourite music video at this very moment. This is a backdated blog, however, at the time of this date, I had been looking up Galantis' music since I went to see them perform at the London Roundhouse on their The Aviary Tour in February, and I also wrote up a review of the gig for CelebMix. Watch a bunch of dancers move and nail choreography to this song whilst shapes, lines and other amazing editing techniques are used to create an immersive music video to Galantis & Throttle's song "Tell Me You Love Me".
Galantis are a Swedish house duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (Bloodshy) and Linus Eklöw (Style Of Eye). They have been building their name around the world and have had several hits. That's not it though, their other songs that aren't successful chart hits are also well-known by many and this really shows that this duo can make it in the music industry. I'm excited to see what the future will bring for these two as they keep growing bigger and bigger as they release more and more music. This song is a collaboration with Throttle, real name Robbie Bergin. He's been raising the game in music for a few years. He's from Australia and is just 20 years old, having started his dip in music at 15. He's one of the most talked about rising stars at the moment as he continues to switch up music as we know it. I really do see him hitting it internationally with a global hit in the next year or so. This song was written by Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson, Jimmy "Svidden" Koitsch, Linus Eklöw, Sarah Aarons, Throttle, Eddie Jenkins, and Henrik Jonback. There are uncredited vocals from Sarah Aarons, on this track.
Directed by MOSSS, this music video is a pure dance music video. These sort of music videos doesn't gain much interest to me unless it has killer choreography, has something great going on, and it's been edited right... Well, that is exactly what this music video is in every single way.
It's an upbeat number that contains three incredible dancers who are Sorah Yang, Noah Henderson, and Eric Whitehurst. They bat out choreography naturally as if it's freelance - it could well be, although I doubt it since it exactly relates to the music at times. It's a crafted skill and looks beyond brilliant.
What makes this music video so good is the use of the art visuals and the editing. It's not easy to fully pull this off, but the creative team behind this music video has done just that. It makes this music video a lot more engaging and really brings the audience into the visual.
I can't help but love this music video. It may not have a narrative or a performance piece, but Galantis & Throttle prove that you don't need all that to make an epic and brilliant music video. This has got everything we all have been looking for.
