Lonely hearts theatre, the tartan skirt, tiny power lines, unusual pop, a really long cord, a girl’s night out, and Vienna part II.
Anika Moa “Love Me Again”
“Love Me Again” is Anika Moa’s expression of her love for her (now ex-)wife, but it has a universality about it. The video dials up the melancholy. There’s Anika performing the song in an empty theatre, and scenes of people sitting all by themselves, looking alone and miserable, waiting for someone to love them again. It a bit bleak, but it’s not without hope.
Director: Tim van Dammen
Anna Wilson “Say You Love Me”
Anna Wilson is perhaps best known for being a contestant on the first New Zealand series of The X Factor, where she placed eighth, after struggling to come across as a popstar and not just a person who can sing. And that’s the trouble with the “Say You Love Me” video – despite the using all the trappings of a 2000s pop music video, Anna and the song just aren’t captivating enough. Case in point: I listened to the song more than a few times in 2013, but it hasn’t stuck with me. Every time I hear it, it’s like my memory has been wiped. And if there’s one thing a good pop song needs, it’s hooks. Not even a fiery car, a tartan skirt, or a vintage microphone can fix that.
Director: Ivan Slavov
Artisan Guns “Private Universe”
“Private Universe” is a cover of the Crowded House song, as part of the Finn brothers tribute album He Will Have His Way. Artisan Guns’ version is fragile, and the video sets them in their own private universe. The band members are bobbing in a a sea made of bedsheets, or they become landscapes, with tiny powerlines strung across their shoulders. It’s an intriguing reality.
BARB “Alcoholic Darling”
First, behold this from the video description: “BARB is what happens when five passionately creative friends lock themselves in a world-class studio for a month with no plans and plenty of wine.” World-class! There’s no sign of the “southern hemisphere it-kids” in the video. Instead it focuses on an Indian girl lip synching the song, while some Bhangra dancers are superimposed behind her. “Alcoholic Darling” is an unusual song, pure pop mixed with indie avant garde. So maybe the unusual video is for the best – anything poppier or weirder would have messed with the song.
Director: Joseph Harper
Cairo Knife Fight “This Is Love” – missing
Cairo Knife Fight is the project of drummer Nick Gaffaney, who works with various other musicians as a duo. For “This Is Love”, he’s working with Aaron Tokona, formerly of Weta. The video features a guy who steals an old CRT television from a blind man. Only the television has a long cable and plays a Cairo Knife Fight performance. There’s romance (the guy meets a girl) and jeopardy (they’re running from the cops), and CKF get to smash up some more old tellies, which is just what any good stoner rock song needs.
Note: The video was hosted on a French video site, but it’s since been removed. Listen to the audio here.
Director: Logan McMillan
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Candice Rhind “Mama Say” – missing
There’s no sign of this video, but this blurry picture from the “Mama Say” music shoot can be found on Candice Rhind’s Facebook page. It took place in Melbourne in November 2011, and if the photo is anything to go by, it was offering a glamorous classic girl group trio.
Concord Dawn “Easy Life”
Oh, this is clever! Concord Dawn’s earlier video “Forever” told the story of a guy who falls in love with a call girl. “Easy Life” tells the same story from her perspective. So while the guy is asleep, dreaming that the couple are having a romantic date at the Prater amusement park, the girl is off riding her bike around central Vienna, very much the carefree single girl. There are lots of shots of scenic Vienna. Sometimes the video is trying to go for a “bright lights, big city” feeling, but it’s Vienna, it’s not a cool metropolis – there are horses and old buildings and new buildings that pretend to be old. This isn’t the first music video to follow on from another, but it’s perhaps the most successful, with the second video completely changing the way the second video can be interpreted.
Director: Warren Green