MUMBAI: Two bands released music videos of their respective singles this week, and the fans have populated social media with the certification of approval to the concept of the videos, but expressed dismay towards the sound.
Kerala-based Thaikkudam Bridge released an exceptionally crafted animated video for the single ‘Sultan’ – the second track off the 2015 album ‘Navarasam’. Sung by Anish Krishnan, ‘Sultan’ speaks about the uprising of the dead against the unjust mighty superior. To incorporate live action into a graphic backdrop – a visual treat of course – but does create complications and opens the door to minute flaws, as the Sultan’s case proves. Apart from the improperly infused backdrops, the video for ‘Sultan’ does become a remarkably executed artistic expression. The story line of the song stretches synonymous throughout the video, and the frame-by-frame flawless flow allows the visuals to convert into a story. The visuals provide a graphic novel vibe, seldom used in the Indian music videos. Thaikkudam Bridge raised the bar for music videos with ‘Aarachar’.
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The composition off the same album, directed by Bollywood director Bejoy Nambiar, unlike ‘Sultan’, did not involve animation or VFX. But the highly-budgeted music videos convey the band’s intentions of not letting any stone unturned for an ideal package and beautification of their creations. Although ‘Sultan’ did not raise the bar any further, it surely deserves all the credits for allowing the musicians from the alternative music scene to dream of repeating something similar henceforth.
UK band Coldplay released the music video for the single ‘Up & Up’ off the ‘A Head Full Of Dreams’ album. After receiving mixed – and some extremely critical – reviews for the ‘Hymn For The Weekend’, the band did not only raise the bar for themselves, but the effort surely puts the video for ‘Up & Up’ among the best music videos ever made. With elements that one would never imagine to be together, directors Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia have created a masterpiece, and that’s not an exaggerated opinion.
A skyscraper on a plate, giant Chris Martin lying on the landscape, a bare-chested gentleman sleeping on the moon, freeways in the space, racing cars on the Saturn rings or gigantic flowers growing parallel with the skyscrapers, the video is like a beautiful dream of a child who does not understand the limitations in the world. After the accusations of cultural appropriations in ‘Hymn For The Weekend’ that haunted the band for few weeks and the ‘unnecessary’ use of CGI monkeys in ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ , the new video does rekindle the fans’ expectations towards Coldplay. Historically speaking, the band always emphasised on the importance of music videos and ‘Up & Up’ does not only represent the song name, but also the trajectory of the quality of the band’s music videos.
Belonging to spaces existing culturally apart, the two bands carefully chose the concept of videos to the respective singles. The VFX and animation team for Thaikkudam Bridge deserve a pat on the back for executing a generic story into a well-designed visuals, whereas the concept for ‘Up & Up’ did the magic for Coldplay.
