A family fun day at the beach, a dystopian nightmare, a return to the brick wall, a salty romance and a daring escape.
Aerial “Sweetheart”
Michelle from Aerial plays a lighthouse keeper whose sailor sweetie is away at war. She keeps the light blazing, and is kept company by her (animated) cat. The war ends and she waits for her fellow to return home. Will he? Oh, of course yes. It’s a cosy and adorable video. Excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.
Director: Dale McCready
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Blindspott “Stay”
“Stay” makes the unconventional move of having scenes shot outdoors, in broad daylight. This reveals that lead singer Damian has let his hair grow (possibly a power play against Shelton’s receding hairline). But being a Blindspott video, the outdoors scenes involve giant floating hand grenades with speakers attached (the image from the cover art of their second album End the Silence). And also being a Blindspott video, it’s set in a dystopian world where the oppressed masses (who are all bald) need to be liberated via nu metal.
Director: Marcus Ringrose
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Carly Binding “My Satellite”
If you say someone is your satellite, you’re basically saying that you’re at the centre of the universe and your satellite person is orbiting around you. It’s more romantic the other way around, as German songstress Lena Meyer-Lundrut sang “Like a satellite/I’m in orbit all the way around you”. But anyway. The “My Satellite” video is set at a family beach picnic, with sausages, pavlova, dogs and kids. Loads of kids. At one point the kids are showing the camera something in their hands, but the video’s resolution isn’t clear enough to make it out, which leads to all sorts of speculation. Maybe Carly’s given them the secret to eternal youth. Maybe it’s just chips.
Note: This video used to be on Amplifier but that’s now shut down. It can now only be viewed via Apple Music, but you can watch the first 30 seconds for free.
Chong Nee “More Than You Know”
This looks like it was shot at the time same as the “You Got My Heart” video – same brick wall, same band (but without the brass section) and Chong Nee is even wearing the same shirt. This isn’t the first time an artist has done a two-for-one with their music video shoot. In 2004 Amber Claire did the same with the videos for “At Seventeen” and “Here It Comes Again”. The end result – a decent cheapie video.
Director: Martha Jeffries
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Cobra Khan “Run Away”
While Cobra Khan are playing their song in an old warehouse, somewhere else a man is tied to a chair and is furiously trying to escape. Interestingly, the prisoner is black, the band is white. I dunno. The chair he’s been tied to is a flimsy flatpack job and smashes apart easily, which makes for some dramatic shots.
Director: Andrew Morton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision