Artist: Gabrielle Aplin
Album: English Rain (2013) (Previously featured on the Home EP)
Genre: Pop/Folk
Release: 9th June 2013
Gabrielle Aplin is a a British singer and songwriter whose music can be most accurately described as a blend of pop and folk ballads, began her career through YouTube. Making cover videos at at home in Bath, she gradualy gained popularity on the site and began touring and self promoting. She released several sucessful EP's before signing with Parlophone Records and releasing her debut album English Rain.
The song Home is her fourth single from the album released in June 2013, following the huge sucess of her cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love. It wasn't original to the album's track list, being one of her previous EP's stand out tracks and it is for this reason that it became another single.
Genre Characteristics
One of the first things to note about this song is that it is very hard to define in terms of it's genre. Many people would say that it is primarily folk, due to the soft guitar acoustics and Aplin's soft, almost whimsical voice. However, in my opinion, there are also elements of pop music and some of rock hidden in the melodies, such as the structure nd lyrics, and also the build up of dynamics approaching the end. The music video reflects the sentimental and melancholic feel of the songs and incorporates many common genre charcteristics.
The focus purely on narrative is one of the most prolific. The music video begins without any of the track playing at all. The first minute seen is solely a build up of the narrative, establishing the main focus on the artist, which creates a sense of identity for the artist and hence gives the viewer a feeling of personal connection with the vocalist. This feeling of intimacy is common among the folk genre, with low key and meaningful performances and videos being the norm. Following this, the genre also often contains elements of instrumental performance, which can be seen at the end of the video
Music and Visuals
Laid back and gentle when it begins, the music gives me the feeling of being closed in under and open sky, perhaps because of the contrast of queit and intimate music against the vast open spaces seen in moments of the video. There is also a distinct seperation throughout the video of music and visuals, save for the matching of vocals, which leads to a build up and union of the two at the end of the video. This could perhaps symbolise a kind of harmony in finding her own path and doing what she loves and what she travelled to do. The visuals tend to follow where the music leads you, such as at 3:30 when the beat becomes more apparent, lending the song more power. The shots begin to match the pace and rhythm of the song for a period of time, a separate shot for each beat. This adds emphasis to the people that she begins to meet here and connotes to me the idea of things getting better with time. She finds friends in unexpected places and this helps to progress her physical and emotional journey from the tone and build up of the song. It gives the listener a sense of hope and the idea that maybe this is where Home is - with the people who understand you and support you.
Lyrics and Visuals
Aplin's songs tend to be very lyric based and for this reason, I feel that the video has echoed this to a certain extent. The song explores what the idea of a Home really is and in essence, gives those listening and watching a strong conclusion by the end. Home to many people, is often symbolised by a place - a country, a town, a house - but here, we see a deviation from that idea. The lyrics softly juxtapose with the visuals through Aplin constantly moving forward, destination to destination, perhaps trying to find a new place to call her home.
One of the key lines I picked up on here was "With every small disaster, I watch the waters still." as I think this is perhaps the purpose of her journey throughout the video. The video commences with Aplin losing nearly everything she has, a disaster in it's own right. But she perseveres, moves forwards and gains perspective, allowing her to get back those things she lost and more.
Along with this, there is a direct link between lyrics and visuals in the chorus, on the line "It's not just where you lay your head, it's not just where you make your bed." in which she is seen to be laying on the bed in a hotel room, clutching a pillow. Interestingly, this adds an element of comfort and homeliness to the video, as having a bed to sleep in can often be symbolic of safety, something that she is obviously lacking in the feeling of from the beginning of the video. The repetition of Home at the end of the song as the music returns to it's warm acoustic origgins also links in ewith this idea, as if she is returning to safety through finding a place in which she can belong.
Notions of Looking and Voyeurism
There doesn't appear to be any obvious examples in the video that would be considered voyeuristic. However, shots are often directly placed in a way that bring attention to Aplin, such as the scenes in the hotel.
Artist Identity
The video is entirely focused on Gabrielle Aplin and her characters story, with no deviation to any other charcter throughout the song. It is mainly narrative based, which I believe echoes most of her songs and in particular this one. A connection between artist and viewr is established almost instantly through the quiet opening and the brutality of what occures, possibly sparking sympathy or even empathy within the viewer. The shots are mostly long to allow more focus on Aplin and there are moments in which she looks directly at the camera, reinformcing the close intimacy felt before. She portrays the same style as is seen in her albums and previous EP's, visually and musically and in some ways, the video id reflective of her own journey to fame, not losing her own sense of identity along the way.
Intertextual References
Whilst there are no direct links to any other works outside of the video, it's style does seem reminincent to me of a few American roadtrip films. This may be due to the iconic settings that are used - diner's, bar's, wide open spaces etc. and also because of the events that take place. Following on from the wide spaces theme, I am reminded when I look at the setting of Phoenix, Arizona, interesting when you consider the lyrical line "I'm a phoenix in the water." The phoenix idea may have also be carried on to the design on Aplin's jacket, symbolising to me her independance and need to be free, both traits of the mythical creature.
Type of Video
I would say that the video is mostly narrative throighout, with instances of performance becoming more noticable and crucial towards the end of the song. The narrative is obvious, as it follows the lyrics of the song quite precisely, and the theme is translated from the music to the video. The last section, in which Aplin is performing at a bar, could certainly be considered performance, yet it aslo fits in as part of the narrative and stands for the moment where she finds something like Home.
Consistantly Used Shots
There are a lot of close up shots used throughout the video, especially to show the emotions conveyed from the protagonist of the video and to establish conection between the artist and audience.
Establishing shots of the town and the desert are used to show when she is in a different place, so that the audience can keep up with her travels whilst also being reminded of her constant search for a home. Along with this, long shots are used to show where she is travelling to, these shots are all used to keep up with the artist and help them to form a connection with the artist and hopefully have an interpretation of the meaning behind the video.
Interestingly, there is little to no slow motion used in the video (a common feature of other works), possibly to reflect her fast paced life.
A final note... It is interesting to compare this video to the one she produced before English Rain was released, when the song was the lead single from her EP of the same name. I noticed that the older video was far simpler, yet contained many of the same themes as this one. The narrative however, is less prominent, instead focusing more on performance with narrative acting as an underlying theme. It also has a less cinematic feel and approach to the lyrics.
No comments:
Post a Comment