In a day and age where artists use their music videos as vehicles to brazenly plug desperate gimmicks and clickbait tactics, it seems that originality has taken a metaphorical backseat to banality, who sits comfortably in ‘shotgun’ with coveted access to the aux-cord. While metal-mouthed rappers fork over ludicrous sums for appearances from personalities like the “Cash Me Ousside” gremlin, artists like London’s Plastic Flowers are tapping into their roots to create aesthetically poignant visual experiences through their music. Plastic Flowers is the dreampop/shoegazing project of multi-instrumentalist George Samaras, whose official music video for “Silence Again” is out now.
Shot on 8mm film, the music video utilizes Samaras’ wistful acoustic stylings in a film-noir lens. It begins with a man sauntering on a dark beach with distant, vivid lights emanating from tiny homes on a hill, evoking an alluring chiaroscuro effect. Filmed throughout a single sunrise using nothing but handheld cameras, the end result is as minimal as it is breathtaking. When asked about the history and motivation behind the video, Samaras said:
"Silence Again was initially recorded on a warm summer night in 2013. I was dead drunk trying to express some of my saddest feelings about a person that I thought I lost back then. Although it was released the next day as a free download, two years later I decided to rework it from scratch in my London flat with heavy synth bass and acoustic guitars to create a dreamier soundscape. The video was shot on 8mm film, the emotions are personal, the scene romanticized, and the effect universally personal. The piece is an ode to the rising sun, to the unanswerable questions, and to the value of all things that make us feel.”
If you want to hear more Plastic Flowers, check out his album Heavenly, which you can purchase here.
Connect with Plastic Flowers: Facebook | Soundcloud
