Jax Jones and Calum Scott's latest music video for "Whistle" takes viewers on a nostalgic journey through London's streets. The video was shot on an old bus that Jax Jones used to use in his local borough, Elephant & Castle. The official video features a special motion control (MoCo) camera that follows the lives of various passengers as they travel throughout the day, from morning to evening.
Jax Jones co-directed the video with Charlie Sarsfield, who has previously worked with artists like Stormzy and George Ezra. The cinematography is stunning, capturing the vibrant energy of the city and showcasing the unique lives of the passengers on the bus.
The song itself is a feel-good, upbeat pop track with catchy lyrics and a memorable melody. Calum Scott's soulful vocals add a whole bunch of emotion to the track, while Jax Jones' production skills shine throughout, with a thumping bassline and infectious beats.
Overall, the "Whistle" music video is a nostalgic and heartwarming production that showcases the beauty and energy of the city of London. The song is infectious and the visuals are visually stunning, making for a memorable and entertaining experience.
I've been a fan of As December Falls for a couple of years now after first discovering them from a Facebook advert, and I've never looked back since, having bought their signed CDs from their store (yes I love signed CDs, I'm addicted), and signed up to their Patreon (the BEST Patreon account I've ever signed up to), and I've listened to their songs again and again. They've literally filled the gap of mainstream-rock female-led rock that I've been needing to fill ever since Paramore went synth-rock, and while some bands and artists occasionally stepped into the gap like Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, The Pretty Reckless, Olivia Rodrigo, and Bronnie, I never quite filled that gap until As December Falls came along, and now they're my favourite female-led rock band and I've loved every single track, cover, and demo they've ever dropped (including the ones on their Patreon, in addition to the track that Ande Hunter took lead vocals on, exclusive to Patreon).
The four-piece, consisting of Bethany Hunter, Ande Hunter, Timmy Francis, and Lukas James, hail from Nottingham and have been on the music scene since 2014, rising and building their fanbase. Two studio albums later and they're boasting millions of Spotify streams and sold-out tour dates! They've definitely on the verge of huge success, and I am totally here for it, especially as they're an independent band.
Directed by Justin Griffiths, this music video is a pure performance piece that totally showcases the band's vibe and energy. "Mayday" is hard rock at its finest and allows each of the band members to shine with the music video visually showcasing that during awesome cut scenes and unforgettable visuals.
It was shot in a prison, and the band recruited some of their fans to star in the music video. There's also a slight narrative as we watch Bethany Hunter start singing in the corridor of the prison with orange overalls in her hands as arms reach out to her through the bars - easily referencing the lockdown that the pandemic caused - and later we see her performing the track whilst wearing the orange jumpsuit.
Such an amazing music video, that correlates well with the track, as "Mayday" is all about coming out of lockdown and struggling to be back outside and socialising - it really was a tough time for everyone.
“'Mayday' is our heaviest track to date. It was inspired after coming out of lockdown, we were so used to being trapped in our houses that getting back to normal life and going back to socialising outside was a struggle. It’s about becoming acclimated to things that aren’t healthy for you and breaking down those walls,” Bethany Hunter said of the track. She also went on to talk about the upcoming album, "The album is a call to arms. We were so tired of the music industry being full of sharks and just the world in general at the moment. Everywhere you look, it’s just falling to shit. It’s about not sticking to the rules when you know there’s a better way. It’s a middle finger up to old ways, that we can do this without that bullshit. That’s why we called it 'Join The Club'.”
I've been a fan of Restless Road ever since The X Factor US where they were formed on season three of the show, placing fourth. During the show, they met future collaborator, Kane Brown, who signed them and they've gone from strength to strength in the country music world. They consist of Zach Beeken, Garrett Nichols, and Colton Pack, and filmed this music video while they were on tour in Australia.
“We couldn’t believe that fans were singing our songs back to us halfway around the world at these shows! What really sent the trip over the top was that we got to film a music video for our new song ‘Sundown Somewhere’ in Newcastle, Australia. We knew we wanted to really show all of what Australia has to offer in this video, so we used a local director and crew. This was a trip that we will never forget and can’t wait to get back”, shared Colton Pack.
The song, written by Cole Swindell, Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice, and Cole Taylor, is all about the hope of meeting that special someone, the one person you are meant to be with for the rest of your life, the one. I certainly know that feeling having been single for two years now, but I believe my future someone is out there just waiting for me too. This song totally speaks to me and this music video interprets the song brilliantly.
"No matter what point you’re at in life, we’ve all dreamed about the person we’re going to end up with. Where they are, what they look like, and what they’re like. ‘Sundown Somewhere’ is a song that really captures that feeling and the moment we heard it we were excited to record it and get it out to our fans,” shared Garrett Nichols.
The video is split into two parts, firstly Restless Road showcases their stage presence by performing this song on the Newcastle beach with the scenic waves crashing behind them. Then there's the incredible narrative as we watch a man feel a connection or spark with a blonde-haired woman who he spots from afar. He crosses paths with her a few times, and it isn't until he sees her car in the same parking lot he ends up at, that he starts to write a song about her, the lyric sheet gets caught by the wind and she ends up with it. He later returns to his car to see that she's waiting for him (although how she knew the lyric sheet was his is beyond me).
A brilliant music video with an engaging romantic storyline that connects with the song easily. This simply just works and continues to show how incredible Restless Road is. This trio is really making waves in country music, and I'm excited to continue to follow their career path.
Today we have a brand new single and music video from Karmen in collaboration with BRUJA, titled "Belladonna" and I am addicted! Beyond catchy in every way, Karmen shines vocally and visually. It reminds me of INNA's deep house tracks mixed with the vocal brilliance of Antonia. Romanian female singers are totally on top of their game at the moment and Karmen is up there with the best of them. This collaboration with BRUJA allows her to start a new musical journey that brings a new take to Eastern European pop music and I am excited about this era. BRUJA switches up the track with a brilliant rap that further adds to the unique quality of the song, which has been written by Alexandru Pelin, Krishane Murray, Maria Teodora Mizgoi, Octavian Ioachim Petre, and Vlad Lucan.
The music video has a Halloween feel to it, which isn't a surprise since it is Halloween tomorrow. It also goes well with the song as it does have a creepy spooky vibe in the track itself. It is set in what looks like an asylum, which is giving me Lady Gaga "Marry The Night" vibes. Karmen is one of the nurses and she is fiercely working it in the music video as she rolls a guy who is wearing a straight jacket around in a wheelchair. There are split-second scenes throughout that showcases a different reality where Karmen is dressed in black and is knocking out killer dance choreography with a group of dancers. BRUJA is scarily freaky, acting as another patient in the asylum, which adds to the creepy aesthetic of the video and the song itself. This just works as a complete package and I could so watch it again and again.
I have been a fan of Sam Callahan for years, even before he auditioned for The X Factor, and today saw him drop a brand new single and music video, titled "Demons", and I am obsessed with this song. Highly relatable to anyone who has been in toxic friendships and relationships - let's be honest, we've all been there at some point - this song draws on the emotions of that pivotal moment when you decide to do what's best for you and leave the toxic person once and for all, detoxing yourself from that person who was dragging you down with them. It's quite possibly one of his best songs he's released lyrically as the structure is on-point, as well as his vocals, and his falsetto gives me chills every time he launches into that bridge. This is one brilliant song that deserves to become his biggest hit to date. Keep listening to it on repeat!
The music video, directed by Jake Pursey, is set in an abandoned building and is a pure performance visual. Sam Callahan takes all his honesty and emotion and unleashes it during the visual allowing the audience to feel what this track means to him. We imagine that he would bring this sort of energy on stage whenever gigs are allowed to go-ahead again. The last few scenes see him use all that emotional energy on smashing a TV with a baseball bat - which he clearly enjoyed doing. This is such a great music video to accompany this track.
Why do two of my all-time favourite artists release new music on the same day? Like, I love it because it's new music from both INNA (who has collaborated with Michael Calfan on the track "Call Me Now") and Alexandra Stan (who features on this song "Bandit" by Paul Damixie) but it causes me to have to choose which new release to cover - or it normally would, in this case, luckily, INNA hasn't dropped a music video for her new song and so Alexandra Stan has to be my new release music video review this week and I am loving it. This song effortlessly gets stuck in my head, to the extent where I just have the chorus going around and around, eager for me to listen to the song on repeat. It's a really fun song with Paul Damixie giving us some brilliant instrumental sounds throughout the track whilst Alexandra Stan brings the vocals and her care-free spirit as she sings.
The music video has been directed by SAN and has a cowboy-theme throughout with both artists appearing in a wild wild west village. Alexandra Stan appears in most of the scenes, giving us a performance piece where she's wearing a hat that has string hanging down all around it, which clearly gets in the way and she's always messing with it. There's also a performance with a cactus where she's watering it and herself with a hose, and then there are also scenes where she's inside a bar, performing on the tabletop wearing cow chaps. Paul Damixie can be seen walking around dressed as a cowboy throughout. It really has a bandit air to the video with the cowboy theme, but I feel it's missing connection and substance.
Today, a tonne of new releases have been dropped with plenty of them coming from my favourite artists that I really was spoiled for choice on which music video to review for my New Release blog. I went with Becky Hill's new single "Space" because I've supported her since day one (when she appeared on The Voice UK) and she just keeps on releasing anthems after anthems! She's such an incredible singer and I felt extremely lucky that I managed to see her live at the start of 2019, for my birthday, and I hope I get the chance to see her perform on stage again - I'm sure I will. "Space" is an epic song that really showcases Becky Hill's incredible vocals. The lyrics paint a story of a broken relationship where outside troubles are infecting the love they have for one another and tainting it, to the extent where space apart may just be what they need. This hit me right in the heart, especially after going through my break-up a couple of months ago. This is the second time that Becky Hill has dropped a song that speaks to me at my very core at that very moment. She's a powerhouse of a vocalist and "Space" allows her to prove that to the world. This is one incredible and fierce track, that needs to become a chart hit to allow Becky Hill to get the recognition she deserves.
What can I say about this music video? Well, it's probably one of the best music videos I have seen all year! Relating brilliantly with the song, Becky Hill shines throughout with her love-interest acting brilliantly too. The narrative side of the visual is conceptually simple but that is all that is needed because everything else is what makes it superb. I love the editing techniques throughout, from the crazy stairs to the stretching table, all of which adds to the space idea. Then there are the performance visuals which Becky Hill knocks out of the park. Her voice is on-point throughout, she looks absolutely stunning in that flame-orange dress; and, when her hair is up, it really exposes her beautiful face, whilst when she has her hair down we can just feel the power within the visual as she holds her notes. I am blown away with this incredible music video, and it's surely one I'm going to watch again and again.
Released today through Global Records - which is one of my favourite record labels at the moment as they have some amazing artists signed and consistently release awesome music - Gino Manzotti & MAXX are here with an addicting tune, titled "Matado". The song got me hooked the second I heard it and seeing that a music video was also released to accompany the track, I knew I was just going to have to review it today. Gino Manzotti & MAXX have had massive hits in the past under the group DJ Project which included the vocalist Elena Baltagan, where they've worked with the likes of Elena, AMI, Deepside Deejays, and Mira. Now releasing under their own names as a duo, I'm excited to see where this new project takes them. "Matado" is an awesome song that follows up their previous single "Arabian Story". It's got a lot of Eastern European and Asian beats and melodies mixed in with the high dance energy with hints of progressive house. The uncredited vocalist has an incredible voice that really lays out the lyrics of the song.
As for the accompanying music video, directed by Alex Ceausu, I am kind of unimpressed. There's a big dance number that has great choreography, and it's clear that social distancing was important to them so it's great to see that they did this during the pandemic, but the narrative doesn't really go anywhere apart from a briefcase being handed over. There are extra performance shots of pole dancing and of Gino Manzotti & MAXX, but these scenes do not bring the audience back into the visual. This is such a brilliant song and I can see it going viral, but the video doesn't live up to the song itself.
New Dami Im music has been released today and I am beyond happy and I totally feel encouraged with this uplifting empowerment song, "Paper Dragon". Dami Im is one absolutely incredible singer and once again she blows me away with her amazing voice! I'm glad to see her return to a more upbeat track, continuing to show her versatility as an artist, and this song is really quite a number. Addicting from the get-go, "Paper Dragon" is about not letting anyone push you down and continuing to fight to get to where you want to be. This is highly relatable to a lot of people, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic, as a lot of people have lost their jobs (me included) and other things that have happened to people has made them feel like they're not good enough (I went through a break-up and there are still some days where I just feel lost and I'm not where I want to be in my life, career, or anything else, but I'm a fighter too and I'll never stop trying). This is one incredible song, that deserves to become a hit!
Accompanying the track is a paper origami-inspired music video that has been directed by Stefano Bertelli at Seen Film Studio with Riccardo Orlandi acting as assistant director. We follow a paper caterpillar that starts life on the leaf of a flower. It soon evolves into a butterfly who goes on a journey through the desert, flying past an awesome snake and landing near a cactus. With no water, it slowly starts to die, but lightning strikes the cactus - which is storing water - and the butterfly gets a drink. I then magically evolves again, this time into a dragon, who flies across the desert powerfully. Throughout there are performance scenes of Dami Im singing the song, wearing a stunning red jumpsuit and looking gorgeous in every scene. She's displayed like a paper sticker, jumping into this awesome paper-like world. At one point the jumpsuit turns to white as she nears the end of this incredible song. With conviction, Dami Im puts her heart into this song and music video, showing how much these words mean to her. I hope that I get to see her perform live on stage one day, as I need to hear this awesome voice live!
INNA just keeps on releasing banger after banger and this one is no different, in collaboration with Farina, titled "Read My Lips". I feel like I've heard this song before like it's a part of INNA's unreleased songs - just like "We Wanna" used to be, the collaboration with Alexandra Stan which also featured Daddy Yankee. As much as I love INNA's songs and as much as I feel like she could sing anything and I would still love it because of her gorgeous voice, I feel that this is disjointed, and I think it's due to it being a collaboration with Farina; I don't think it was the best song for them to collaborate on as Farina's reggaeton style doesn't match the rhythm of the song and INNA's superb dance vocals, but "Read My Lips" still works as a song overall, I am eager to hear remixes of the song to see what the DJs and producers would do to the track.
As for the music video, I am getting Mad Max vibes throughout. Filmed by two different groups (NGM Creative for INNA and NJ Entertainment for Farina) due to the artists being in different countries, this music video is incredible. The visual opens with a goddess-like theme with INNA looking amazing in a black dress where she's sitting on a chair/throne. In contrast, a second scene is shown where INNA is wearing a red dress with a red line splitting her chin and neck in half, vertically. Farina matches with a black outfit that is a lot more provocative, and a separate scene sees her in a goddess-like cream-coloured rope outfit, as the tone of the song changes to match her rap. The middle-performance scene sees INNA in a skin-and-beige-coloured outfit continuing the goddess themes whilst Mad Max-style visuals intercut - almost as if the song is a film soundtrack. With the final scene showing INNA wearing a bright fluffy yellow coat. It's such a high production music video, how is this not a part of a film soundtrack? The dancers are bringing some brilliant choreography, it's just a shame they don't get a full scene. The music video is good, it's just missing a few things that could've elevated it to be better.
He's back! Bryson Tiller is gearing up to release a brand new album in the coming months, titled Serenity, and it will be his third studio album. Doing what he does best, Bryson Tiller has dropped a unique track that really allows him to shine in every way, "Inhale" is one special song and it has already made an impact with this music video trending on YouTube, which is how I came across it.
Directed by Ro.lexx, the video captures the essence of a relationship in just a few scenes, from the text to the bedroom scene to the looks they give each other when they're sitting outside. It's such a mood as a whole, totally grabbing the attention of the viewers and fully giving them a fly-on-the-wall-experience. As a whole, there's not a whole lot going on, but their ability to convey all in just those few scenes gives us all we need to know. A clever and interesting concept that totally works with the song.
Well, this was a nice surprise to come across for this week's new release music video review. "Midnight Love" by Jindi featuring Smylie is an infectious reggae track that I really haven't been able to get out of my head since the minute I heard it. Jindi truly managed to blow me away with his awesome vocal on this track, whereas Smylie brings the dancehall flavour that adds the extra spice that is needed. This collaboration is something different, fresh, and exciting, giving us a tune we will definitely listen to many times over.
The accompanying music video is really visionary, with a chilled-out opening scene which sees Jindi in Dubai calling Smylie in Harare, Zimbabwe, where the latter invites the former to come and visit. The viewers watch on as Jindi visits Zimbabwe and showcases the beautiful locations and the people that they meet. Some of the scenes are breath-taking, and both artists nail the performance side of things giving us perfect energy that just adds to the song, overall.
This song was released last week, but the music video was dropped today via Ultra Music's YouTube Channel and it is cuteness overload, for sure. The song is incredibly addicting and Karen Harding brings emotion easily throughout. Vocals on fire from start to finish, it's powerful and passionate with every listener feeling the lyrics in their hearts. It's one of my favourite releases from last week because of her awesome voice, the brilliant sound from Digital Farm Animals, and I just love the R&B hints that truly makes this song.
It's not easy to turn out a brilliant music video for such an awesome song, but they've done just that. Directed by Jordi Estapé with Henry Gill acting as director of photography, we watch Karen Harding spending time with her on-screen love interest and it's just so adorable. There is so many cute moments and scenes throughout and they've really captured the meaning of the song into the music video. It's refreshing to see, especially since I feel that this is how cute my long-distance partner and I look when we're spending time together, even though we haven't seen each other since the end of February due to this lockdown, and we really can't wait to be together again. This music video is full of love, heart, and passion, one I could watch again and again, on repeat. So beautiful!
Ruth Lorenzo is back with an awesome rock-like ballad that is set to make you awe-struck. Clearly gaining inspiration from rock ballad classics, Ruth Lorenzo shines in every way with "Miedo" showcasing her beautifully stunning voice and her range capabilities. The X Factor and Eurovision star easily belongs in this music industry and deserves so much more success, and this brand new single proves just that. "Miedo" is the Spanish word for "Fear" and my rough Google Translate suggests the song is an open letter to Fear itself and Ruth Lorenzo is telling it that she isn't afraid anymore. It's one confident and inspiring song, that just builds and builds gaining strength towards the end.
Now, I was browsing through the new releases from this backdated day and I was wondering what music video to review. I had a choice between this one and another one titled "Call Ya" by Zāna; I watched this one first and as it got more in-depth I was almost completely decided to review the latter as I didn't feel this was anything amazing or interesting - well, that was until the end appeared and it just stabbed me right in the heart because I've been in a similar situation before. Sorry, Zāna, I didn't even get the chance to view your music video, but I may do one day; I may even review it, but not today. After watching it the second time, I took a key interest in the phone shot at the very beginning as I dismissed it the first time. Watch Francois Klark tell his partner that he's coming home early, only to find him kissing another guy, he then runs away as he can't deal with what he has seen in this music video for "Run".
Francois Klark, real name Francois Clark Mulder, is a South African born Canadian singer-songwriter and producer who is a Universal Music Award winner and a John Lennon Songwriting award winner too. He has been building up his career for some time with this song being his official second single, following "Spaceman". He previously was a contestant on the first season of Idols, the South African version of Pop Idol, under his real name. I look forward to seeing where his career takes him especially since this song resonates easily with me because of my past boyfriends - I now have a boyfriend who I love dearly who I trust completely and who loves me back just as much. This song was written by Francois Clark Mulder and Kibwe Thomas.
Directed by Miguel Barbosa of YEAH!films this music video is a pure narrative visual with a shot or two of Francois Klark singing along to the lyrics. It's a highly passionate song with a music video that fully accompanies it. His partner and love interest, whose character name is Ash, is played by Cianan Francis; and, the guy who was in the hallway was played by Evan Spergel.
The video opens up with Francois Klark messaging his partner that he'll be home earlier than usual. There's a close up of his wedding ring and he's waiting for the subway. On the way home, he hasn't received a reply and the camera really enforces that on to the viewers - we all know what's coming. He arrives home, shocked, drops all his things and starts to run away.
Cleverly, the camera operator doesn't show us what he saw and instead keeps it from the viewers at home. This is completely key as, if you totally skipped over who he was messaging, like I did, you wouldn't realise that this was an LGBTQ+ music video.
He runs all the way to the beach, time to clear his head. He drops his wedding ring to the sandy floor and that's that - he's done with the relationship, and good for him. The camera then reverses all we've seen and goes back to that moment he walked in on his partner kissing another guy - something that wasn't made obvious to the viewers until the very end.
Overall, this music video is completely thought out and really shows that love is love and it can hurt anyone, no matter what form it is in. It's a great way to showing people around the world that a man can love a man, and a woman can love a woman, and everything else in-between. Thank you, Francois Klark for this music video.
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.
Who doesn't love a bit of Felix Jaehn? He's one of the rising DJs that we have all become addicted to. This one track is one of our favourites because it is spreading the message of how we all need to be ourselves in this world. This was released officially on 9 February 2018, the date I have backdated this blog post to, making this a new release. I am so far behind on my blog that I am not happy about it, but I plan to put in the work and catch myself up. It will happen, even though it does feel like an impossible task. This music video isn't as great as the song itself, though. Watch Marc E. Bassy perform this track to the camera as various shots show off people being themselves in this music video for Felix Jaehn's song "Cool" that also features Gucci Mane.
Felix Jaehn, real name Feliz Jähn, launched onto the music scene with a cover and has since managed to build up his profile within the DJ world as well as the music world. This is his first release of 2018 and was followed up with his album - which was released the following week. It's a great promotional lead single, but it didn't help to promote his album more than any of his previous single releases. It just lacked promotion that this song really needed since the content is exactly what we need out in the world. The song features Marc E. Bassy, real name Marc Griffin, who has been building up his career in the past couple of years. He has collaborated with G-Eazy a few times and has had one hit international single. He's definitely got this potential around him which suggests that a few bigger hit singles will be released by him, no doubt. There's also a feature from Gucci Mane, real name Radric Davis, who is definitely the American rapper we're all keeping our eyes on. He launched internationally as the feature on Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles" and has ever since made his name known globally. He continues to be a prominent force in music, so this team-up should've been a worldwide hit, it just wasn't. "Cool" was written by Felix Jaehn, Scott Harris, Rick Markowitz, Micah Premnath, Radric Davis, and Jonas Jeberg.
Directed by Drew Kirsch, this music video doesn't go anywhere. It's a pure performance piece that attempts to showcase Marc E. Bassy, but it's so disappointing as a complete whole. There are scenes of Felix Jaehn in the background, but the focus is on Marc E. Bassy.
Now, this wouldn't normally get on my nerves, I'm all for artists promoting themselves, but they really need to be comfortable in front of a camera and be able to send their performance vibes to the audience at home. No matter if it's a dance song, a country song, a rap song, a jazz song, a classical song, a metal song, an instrumental song, or a pop ballad. Marc E. Bassy is lacking performance. There's nothing that interests me into watching him sing the song.
The music video starts off with Felix Jaehn talking in his own language, with English subtitles at the bottom, which says: "It is so important to be authentic and just to be true to yourself. It does not matter who you are how you look or what clothes you wear as long as you are authentic. The moment you are acting and trying to be someone else is when you really aren't cool." What a way to open a video, especially one that has a brilliant song with a deep meaning, like this one; well, until the video fails to do or go anywhere.
There are various characters in this, which suggests that maybe there's a bigger music video behind this and it has been stripped back or the narrative has been edited out; as these stories aren't something that we are capable of following in this visual. Marc E. Bassy takes up the majority of the scenes and his presence isn't addicting or engaging. He loses most of the audience.
Overall, this music video could've been a hell of a lot better, if it had been done right. Instead, it just fails overall. Felix Jaehn may have stated that this is his favourite music video yet, and we stand by his opinion as the song and visual does suggest that people should be authentic to themselves and be who they really are, yet at the same time it's completely lacking and just isn't something we want to watch again and again.
There wasn't much choice for this backdated new release so I just went with this as I'm not so impressed with the music video and I'm hoping this doesn't take too much of my time to write up so that I can hurry up and catch up on my blog; on the other hand, I haven't heard of any of these artists so I may have some research to do; regardless, this song is addicting and I love how it sounds. Watch a couple spend time together in various locations in this loving music video for Nikless & BEFORE WE GO's song "Don't Wanna Let It Go" featuring Maurice.
Nikless, real name Roman Gilgen, is a DJ from Switzerland. He has released a few singles but there's not much information on him. He's an upcoming emerging artist who plans to hit the road soon and who would love to release an album in the future, but he is currently focusing on collaborations and singles, for now. He's currently been working with ENV and has more music on the way. This collaboration is with BEFORE WE GO, which is a project by Maury Pozzi who is also known as Maurice - who provided the vocals to this track. As a project, quite a few releases have been released and they have all been addicting, just like this one. I can't wait to see where both these artists go, their futures are bound to be bright. This song was written by Nikless and Maury Pozzi.
Directed by Cutloose London, this music video is a pure narrative visual that doesn't connect with the audience. It shows a loving couple in various locations enjoying their time together, before separating.
The first scene shows them walking across a desert. They then start collecting log-like sticks so they can start a camp-fire. This takes up the majority of the music video, taking the word "flames" from the lyrics and turning it into a central part of the music video.
From the fire, we get the exact opposite in the next scene in a snowy landscape and our couple gets into a snowball fight. It was clearly a memory of their fun time together, and they miss those times. We also watch other memories including them crossing a rickety bridge, having tea in the snow, an overlooking swimming pool, and climbing a rock face.
The ending sees them go their separate ways, leaving the past in the past and breaking up. It's an all right music video and does relate to the song, but it doesn't establish the loving connection all that well with the viewers at home. We're missing the sparks and the passion.
Anyone who knows me, knows I'm obsessed with Global Records and their array of artists on the record label. They recently created a division titled Global Records Latin, which Micke Moreno was the first star to release under that division with "El Amor" which featured Antonia. The label has continued to release songs that are beyond addicting, and here is another one on this backdated new release. I previously wrote up about this for CelebMix, and although it wasn't strictly released on this backdated date, it was released a few days earlier, it was still new for that week. Watch Micke Moreno and Kryan battle it out during a car race intercut with performance scenes in this music video set in a car park for "Juego".
Micke Moreno, who is sometimes known as just Micke, is best known for taking part in The X Factor (US) and La Banda. Now, Global Records Latin has picked him up, along with some of his friends for their new record label, and it is proving to do well for everyone involved. His debut, "El Amor" got millions of YouTube views, although we reckon that was with the help of featured star Antonia. This single sees him collaborate with Kryan, again - they first teamed-up for "Eres Tu" along with Fabyan and Yoandri. Kryan is known for being on La Voz Teens where he was a semi-finalist. Now, he's a part of Global Records Latin allowing him to pursue his dream and passion. He manages to twist up this track, adding his stamp and flavour. The song was written by Micke Moreno and Brien Melo with Alexandru Cotoi helping to compose the music.
The music video has both a narrative and a performance piece, so you would expect my rating, at the end of this review, to be high; this is the core of a great music video, however this just doesn't come off quite so well. The performance takes over as the main part, leaving the uninteresting and overdone narrative to become a minor part.
The car race launches this whole music video, but sometimes the cars don't look as if they're competing. They go around the car park as we wait to see who wins. We've seen plenty of car races in music videos. Micke Moreno looks disappointed at the end, suggesting he lost, but maybe he's just unhappy about Kryan's inability to perform in the performance part.
To be fair, it's not just Kryan's fault, the camera operator focuses on the women dancers far more than the two singers, and we can't really blame Kryan for being distracted, now can we? It would be good to see Kryan perform all by himself, to see if he does grab the audience at home. As for Micke Moreno, he is on point and definitely a future star, he controls the energy and slams it right into the viewers at home. He's not distracted and wants to give a good performance, and he manages to save this video in every way.
Not much choice for today's backdated new release, so I decided to go with one of my favourites even though it wasn't technically released on this date; instead, it was released a few days earlier. I did write up an article about it for CelebMix, which was to be expected. Antonia has been on form lately, especially in Romania, and I'm excited to see what the future brings - hopefully, a new album as we certainly need a new one from her. Watch Antonia and Connect-R perform this collaboration with all the heart and emotion it deserves, while we watch a narrative couple take some time apart from each other, finally ending it in this music video for "Adio".
Antonia, full name Antonia Iacobescu, is one of the biggest female Romanian singers around. She went international in her early career but now she's gone back to her home-country-roots by singing in Romanian and it's been fairing well for her, gaining chart hits in that country and millions of YouTube views. She hasn't released an album since her debut in 2015 so we really need a new Antonia album, that's for sure. This song features Connect-R, real name Ştefan Mihalache, who is a Romanian hip-hop artist. He was originally a part of R.A.C.L.A. before he went after a solo career, becoming a recognised figure in Romanian music. This song was written by Alexandru Cotoi and Ştefan Mihalache.
This music video was directed by Khaled Mokhtar - someone who is certainly making his name known in the Romanian music video industry. This is both a narrative and a performance visual, although there's not much to the former and not much to the latter, either.
Let's start with the story side. We watch a man and a woman finish their argument and decide they need some alone time. This is clear from the get-go and their time apart makes them realise that they need this to become a permanent thing; hence the upsetting ending. It completely relates to the song, and the actors put in a lot of skill to display the character's feelings. However, there's not enough to show us and we don't quite know where the argument came from or what it was about.
As for the performance side, Connect-R is pretty emotionless, which is quite surprising considering he wrote the song. He's not much of an expressive performer, and I was expecting him to deliver. His style is on form though. As a whole, he is a complete opposite to Antonia. She knows how to bring it in a music video, and that's exactly what she does. She's connected with the song and now she wants all the viewers to connect too. Thing is, her style is off-point. I know wet hair is in, but it actually looks greasy making her less appealing; and, her coat may be a nice colour, but it doesn't allow her to release much of her typical energy.
Overall, I'm not sure what to make of this music video. The basis and the concept are brilliant and it should've been an easy top mark from me; however, both sides of this music video has its flaws. If only this was better.
