The work is a music video.

The band approached the director Bouha Kazmi with an open brief; they expressed that they wanted to make a film rather than a music video—this was as much input as they gave in terms of guidance. The video speaks of contemporary human truths that transform into biting social commentary. It shines a light on a historically cyclical epidemic that impacts all walks of life, regardless of class and affiliation. People are dying. Families are being torn apart. These are subjects that are universally relatable across generations and should be dear to those who care about the future of justice, dignity and equality.

Juxtaposing beautiful black-and-white cinematography and religious allegories with graphic, bloody violence and civil rights protest-inspired scenes, the video highlights the discrimination which lingers on in certain corners of society, through the story of a city where angels are persecuted as criminals, beaten bloody by police batons and brutally shorn of their wings in public denouncements, while disinterested crowds look on. The piece culminates in a powerful finale where an angel’s suffering at the hands of police shines a light on the cycle of confrontation of civil liberties and systemic racism. There may have been some advancements over time, but underlying discrimination still thrives in some corners of society. That unsettling truth is what makes this piece so evocative and relevant. It’s about humanity’s ignorance and the fear of the unknown, which in turn acts as a powerful statement against prejudice.

The video was never about fetishizing or romanticizing violence. It was about laying bare the brutality and realism of such acts. So often are stories of aggravated violence discussed on the news, but rarely do they have any impact on the average reader or viewer because they have become so desensitised to them and the realities of what genuinely takes place in these situations. Being witness to actions that forever impact individuals’ lives sears the mind. It’s much more harrowing a memory, which in turn forces the viewer to take the topic more seriously – we needed to express that feeling as viscerally as possible, as aggressively as the act of violence. The shock of these visuals should hit viewers in the gut, provoke them to look around and take notice, if not action. Ensuring that we shot all of these moments in camera further enhanced the reality and truth

The video premiered in French cinemas before screenings of Steven Soderbergh's latest film 'Unsane,' along with an online premiere on YouTube and Vimeo on July 19, 2018.

As public transgressions and confrontations of civil liberties slowly become part of the fabric of modern day society, there needs to be a moment of clarity. We hoped the video would tap into an emotional nerve, and serve as a point of discussion to those who take the time to watch it. Adding symbolic magical realism to what was already something very empathetic helped to elevate the story into something more metaphorical, and strangely enough, perhaps even more digestible.