Video Premiere: Barbarossa – Battles

Ahead of our Band Of The Week feature with the brilliant Barbarossa (James Mathé) next week we have an exclusive premiere of his new video for ‘Battles’. The song itself is a beautiful, stripped back work of scattering drum beats, simple electric guitar lines, with Barbarossa’s velvety vocals pouring over the instrumental lines. The video is equally as elegant and understated as the music; Mathé says of the six-minute film, “I wanted to do something different visually with this song. Rather than just have me in it, the idea was to make a short film around it with someone who can really act. I thought, because the track is six and half minutes long and has the feel of a soundtrack, there was scope to do something quite filmic with it. I love films – having studied film at university, I’m a little obsessed with them. I prefer to consume music with something visual to accompany it – whether it be a conventional music video, online live sessions or if I’m on the train just staring at the passing scenery.”

The video was directed by Montserrat Lombard, who says of the concept “This is a film exploring the man’s state of mind. ’Battles’ is the story of a man who has run away from his home life as he suffers from depression. He has hides in a hotel room, leaving a note for his daughter to come and find him. Although she is only eight years old, she has been in this situation many times before and is keen to convince him to come home with her. Sean Harris plays the lead, and new talent Aglae Froment plays his daughter.

I was keen to shoot in a stylish way with a European sensibility, showing British cinema in a fresh, original light. It was shot on Cannon 300 as well as the 5D. The films were shot in all low lighting in the stunning Blake’s Hotel in Chelsea. The richness of the colours and the lack of strong lighting created by our DOP help give an insight into the fragility of the lead character. The shots glisten and some very much resemble old oil paintings. The team was greatly influenced by the look of the film A Single Man as well as Vilhelm Hammershoi’s paintings.”

Watch the sensational video below. We love it.

-Bronya Francis