Swedish singer Neneh Cherry explores the way life is often viewed, and lived, through the lens of a phone in the new video for Natural Skin Deep.
Artist and filmmaker Akinola Davies directed the clip, which finds Cherry singing the frenetic cut and dancing around the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. Her performance, however, is given a surreal edge by the various crowds who film her every move on their phones, whether theyre watching her on the shores of the Mediterranean or staring at her through the window of a house.
In a statement, Davies who has also filmed videos for Blood Orange and Klein explained how he came up with the idea for the Natural Skin Deep clip: There is a lot going on in video truth be told, I went to see Neneh play at Village Underground and everyone whipped out their phones to film her, so much so I got asked by this guy to move because I was in the way of his phone. Seemed quite ironic that the world is right here in front of us, really 360-degree drama. Instead of communicating through screens maybe were all consuming it through screens.
Natural Skin Deep appears on Cherrys most recent album, Broken Politics, which arrived last October. The record marks Cherrys fifth LP and follows 2014s Blank Project. She crafted the new album with producer and frequent collaborator, Four Tet.
Along with releasing the clip for Natural Skin Deep, Cherry also announced a pair of U.S. shows: May 14th at Elsewhere in New York City, and September 11th at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.