We are extremely proud to present the exclusive
world premiere of Blush Response’s brand-new video for their song “Cruel”. “Cruel”
is taken from the Australian quartet’s exceptional 2018 LP, Hearts
Grow Dull, released in April. Amber recently dubbed the album her favorite full-length release
of 2018 thus far, so our excitement about this premiere is truly off the
charts.
The video for “Cruel” foregoes the ubiquitous blurry
lights and swirly colors typical of shoegaze videos and instead explores more
fertile ground, focusing on themes of tragedy, unity, loneliness, and self-destruction. Directed and edited by Alister Douglas
and filmed by Thomas Smeets, the video follows the main character into three different scenarios in which he is alone and seemingly invisible to those around him. When the other characters are unwillingly pulled into the chaos that inevitably befalls him in each scene, his tragedies have an unexpected effect on them. It's a uniquely wild ride -- humorous and
utterly dark at the same time.
The narrative feels very similar to a short film and it was, in fact, originally conceived as such. Alister told us, “It comes from the idea that tragedy can bring people together, and I figured this was the natural and absurd conclusion to that thought – a self-destructive cupid-like character who creates tragedy but who doesn’t consider closely enough the personal cost of his actions. It started as a short film in my mind, but when I started thinking about what to do for a music video for “Cruel”, the three scenes fit really nicely into the structure of the song.”
The narrative feels very similar to a short film and it was, in fact, originally conceived as such. Alister told us, “It comes from the idea that tragedy can bring people together, and I figured this was the natural and absurd conclusion to that thought – a self-destructive cupid-like character who creates tragedy but who doesn’t consider closely enough the personal cost of his actions. It started as a short film in my mind, but when I started thinking about what to do for a music video for “Cruel”, the three scenes fit really nicely into the structure of the song.”
The video for "Cruel" can be viewed below. We are honored to share it with the world on behalf of Blush Response.
Directed
and edited by Alister Douglas
Cinematography
by Thomas Smeets
Starring: Roy Phung, Jessica Burgess, Russel Lucas, Shanna Ransley, Ryn Dudley, Jessica
McGaffin, Todd Gray, Joe Caporaso, Zach Caporale, Walter Marsh, Sia Duff,
Alister Douglas
