The 1975 have a strong credibility of pursuing great imagery and metaphors throughout their videography, and that has not changed with their latest video for their single, “Somebody Else”.
“Somebody Else” was released before their new album, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, was. However, they are now pushing the song to be a single, sending it to radio stations and promoting it in hopes that it succeeds on its own. The band recently released a clip of the video, announcing that it would be released in full on Friday, July 8th, but they released it one day early.
This music video is their first since “A Change of Heart”, released in April. We saw the band return back to their classic black & white aesthetic with that video, but the color is brought back again for “Somebody Else”, although it is not very exciting or bright; we see a dark color palette represented throughout the video.
The video is split into parts; it starts in black & white and with no music playing. We see Matty, the lead singer, enter a room (where exactly, we’re unable to tell) still in costume from “A Change of Heart”: a full face of clown makeup and all the attire. We also see another version of Matty, motionless and in a robe, sitting on a couch. The Matty that’s in costume gathers his belongings, washes off his makeup, changes into another outfit, and leaves the room, with the other version of himself still sitting there; they never make direct contact, but we can hear the “normal” version of Matty say something unintelligible as he’s leaving.
The rest of the video is in color and includes the song itself. It constantly cuts to shots of Matty in an elevator, a car, and a restaurant, singing along to the song, but looking sad, frustrated and somewhat regretful. The main plot follows a story of Matty going to a bar, getting drunk, singing karaoke and embarrassing himself, when he sees a woman (which we can assume is his ex, by his reaction). He gets off stage and exits the bar, but is followed by the woman and a few men, who then punch him. He enters a strip club to use the bathroom to wipe the blood from his face, as well as order a few more drinks and meet another woman. He leaves with this new girl and gets intimate with her. We then see Matty replace the people he’s interacted with throughout the night: the woman he saw in the restaurant, his ex, the new girl, the man who punched him. The video cuts to shots of scenes where Matty had been with the new girl, but we don’t see her; we can assume Matty had just imagined her this whole time.
The 1975 have a knack at making thought-provoking videos where their fans can gain deeper insight into the meanings of their songs. “Somebody Else”‘s video matched the quality of its musical counterpart and did not disappoint.
- Today in Music History: April 7 - April 7, 2023
- EP Review: Michigander’s It Will Never Be The Same - March 31, 2023
- Deep Dive: Spotify’s ALT NOW Playlist - March 30, 2023
