One thing that’s hard not to notice as we put this together is that male artists are nowhere to be seen this month. Our top ten is entirely women artists or groups fronted by women. Extending to the honorable mentions at the end, only one of 18 groups this month is fronted by men (Major Lazer). It’s not something we intended, but it’s cool to see.
The rest of the year’s top tens counted 16-and-a-half music videos by women out of 31 entries (the half is a collab, and we cheated with a top 11 once), so that’s not been a particular focus. It’s not a statement, we just didn’t like what male artists put out this month as much as the women below.
One thing I will say is that women directors still aren’t heavily featured – they aren’t given as many opportunities as men to direct. That’s a shame and still feels like we’re missing a big chunk of the talent pool out there that’s not getting the same opportunity or resources to create art.
This month’s music videos were selected by S.L. Fevre, Eden O’Nuallain, Cleopatra Parnell, and Gabriel Valdez.
10. I Kissed Someone (It Wasn’t You) – dodie
directed by Hazel Hayes
“I Kissed Someone (It Wasn’t You)” continues dodie’s strong run of music videos that reflect on extremely personal stories of trauma, anxiety, and struggling with depression. Here, it’s a cycle of new partners in an attempt to feel like herself and make a connection in the depth of numbness.
It’s fair to say dodie has a reputation for cute, lighter fare because she’s delivered it reliably, but so much of her work also centers on notions of dissociation and impostor syndrome. What’s been remarkable is how transparently she’s able to communicate what we’re taught to hide and guard.
9. BNR – Crumb
directed by Joe Mischo
Crumb’s always been into making videos that take the everyday and make it weird, but they seem to be driving it to even more Lynchian realms this year. Their unsettling “Trophy” made our list last month.
Even when you get the energy of what Lila Ramani and company are doing, they still deliver endings that make you sit there in a bit of shock. It feels too weighted to just be random, but it also makes so little sense given the framework of what you’ve just seen. That expectation of yourself to design the connection that isn’t there is something that’s hard to evoke. A lot needs to be built beforehand, and Crumb have a habit of building it.
8. love u lately – Laica
directed by Cooper Leith
This is the epitome of a great DIY video. Everything is homemade, and something most of us have the resources to film. Of course, it still takes the idea and execution, which is spot-on here.
One of the things I love about doing this is happening upon MVs that only have a few thousand views. Inexpensive music videos can often be superior to copy-and-paste videos that cost millions and churn out views.
Laica is a Filipina artist who’s had a few breakthroughs, but isn’t exactly mainstream either.
7. Fire Kites – Noga Erez
directed by Omri Rozi
If there’s been a music video artist of the year so far, it’s been Noga Erez. We mentioned her “End of the Road” in January for her singular performance, and listed “Story” just last month as a tremendously fun video with an underlying message about mutual destruction.
“Fire Kites” follows a consistent theme, and Erez has spoken about the differences in growing up between Israeli children with privilege and Palestinean children without it. “Fire Kites” compares the hypocrisy of Israel firing missiles as a regular occurrence with the perceived horror of Palestine launching incendiary kites – as if missiles are acceptable or less horrific simply because they cost more.
(When sharing Israeli artists on this site, I do my best to follow BDS guidelines. Contrary to popular belief, they do not suggest a blanket boycott of Israeli artists, but a selective one based on contracts signed with the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Erez appears to have no such contract and has been very critical of her government and its treatment of Palestine.)
6. Cha-Cha-Cha – Bonnie Banane
directed by Raphael Stora
There’s something so bluntly suggestive in this, and it comes together to undermine our expectations beautifully. Saido Lehlouh’s pent-up energy communicates an impending violence in response to Bonnie Banane’s sultry dancing. What we get instead, what he could barely restrain, is his own performance for her.
The humid interior contrasts to the cold blue, gray, and white of the city outside. Their isolation contrasts to the empty office building. It all seems so simply put together, but it’s beautifully shot and there’s such restraint in focusing on the performance to build the tension and its release.
CW: the following contains quickly flashing images
5. He Said She Said – CHVRCHES
directed by Scott Kiernan
I think this is my favorite music video by CHVRCHES, and they’ve had some strong ones over the years. The thing is, this uses a lot of concepts that usually aren’t done well. Utilizing 80s music video effects can go off the rails pretty fast. So can the tumblr aesthetic employed to present them. The revolving door metaphor is simple, but they plumb pretty deep into it. Fusing all of it together is brave, to say the least, and it achieves an MV that’s impressionistic and emotive.
4. Posing in Bondage – Japanese Breakfast
directed by Michelle Zauner
This one hits hard a year into quarantine. I’m not sure Zauner’s singing about the same thing, but the song and video undeniably reflect isolation and connection. The meet-cute of a woman who’s feasted on blood rolling around an abandoned grocery store until she meets a clerk who shares ramen with her is also better than 99% of romances.
That line “When the world divides into two people/those who have felt pain and those who have yet to” is a sort of lyrical monument that resonates across…well, the past year, the past four years. It may be about one thing, but Zauner communicates it in a way that speaks to so much more. Between this and “Be Sweet”, her upcoming album Jubilee (out June 4) sounds exquisite.
3. Your Power – Billie Eilish
directed by Billie Eilish
The MV works with ideas of camouflage, and how slow we can be to pick up visual changes. Eilish is camouflaged sitting on the cliff, her story imperceptible in a larger landscape. The introduction of the snake is barely on-screen and when it is fully on-screen, it moves slowly and takes a second to register.
Our slowness in picking up these details works as a metaphor for our own slow reactions to recognize abuse. What Eilish does in her direction is building that metaphor in our reaction, rather than as one solely presented on-screen.
The first and last things we see are those cliffs, the suggestion of a landslide, Eilish lost in the geological strata. It suggests the larger history of how common that abuse is, and also reflects the personal – that the trauma of that abuse now forms a layer of who she is as a person.
2. Sorry – Deb Never
directed by Justin Tyler Close
There’s so much going on in a video that never feels overly busy. Deb Never in front of stripped paint that suggests a flag. The bruise and black eye. The slam poet, the dancer interlude picking her up, the mixed acceptance and disappointment of parent to child. It conveys a character and her story more like a film, complete with journey, ending, and a fully developed character with whom we can identify.
1. Introvert – Little Simz
directed by Salomon Ligthelm
If you haven’t followed Little Simz, I’d argue she’s been the best rapper going for a few years now. Her “Stillness in Wonderland” was a mind-blowing 23-song concept album, and her following “GREY Area” was an intense, streamlined entry that existed as a polar opposite in form.
“Introvert” sounds like something new yet again, and the video delivers a surging contemplation of British colonial history largely carried by Little Simz, dancer Stefano A Addae, and choreographer Kloe Dean.
Other music videos we liked in April:
“I Pazzi” by MILLE is a warm and reassuring performance music video that transports you to a courtyard in Italy.
“Lost in the Weekend” by Vok is a beautiful release of a music video. It celebrates the self-assurance of getting to be who you are, even if it’s not who society expects or approves.
“Link” by Tierra Whack celebrates communities and connection through the idea of building Lego-ish rocket ships with aliens. It’s super cute.
“I Eat Boys” sees Chloe Moriondo track down, murder, and gleefully eat street harassers.
“Titans” by Major Lazer sees giant monsters, spaceships, alien starfish, muppet-style versions of Sia and Labrinth, and an animated interlude that helps Lazer learn to defeat kaiju through the power of dance.
“Calle” by Lola Indigo, featuring Guaynaa and Cauty, depicts a terrifying future where roving street gangs have dance-offs against ninjas (this is the future liberals want, btw).
“Space” by Audrey Nuna is a hazy slow-burn that builds on inventive visuals.
“Exception” by renforshort depicts heartbreak and loss as a time loop. By evolving our understanding of who the heartbreak centers on, the repetition challenges the ingrained social assumptions we make.
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Gabriel Diego Valdez 