New Zealand directors Carla Brereton and Stephen Ballantyne, who direct under the name ON HOLIDAY, have created an eerie new clip for Lawrence Arabia.
The video finds Arabia trapped in a personal purgatory that takes the form of an unmanned hotel in the middle of the night. As he wanders the empty rooms and corridors of this existential prison, unearthly forces build and push him towards an escape into something else entirely.
The clip plays homage to Stanley Kubrick with its wide-angle camera work, detached atmosphere, and slow-burn claustrophobic tension that builds to a hypnotic and unsettling end sequence.
This is the latest of a number of collaborations between Lawrence Arabia and the directing duo that has lead to some of New Zealand’s most iconic indie videos, including the 80s political campaign themed video "The Beautiful Young Crew" (https://vimeo.com/22991092).
Through their music videos, Ballantyne and Brereton strive to bring together the pop and poetic - making work that is relevant, funny, energetic and bold, that is balanced with deeper resonating themes, poignancy and beauty. Their work is characterized by highly detailed art direction, nostalgic longing, surreal diversions and finding the extraordinary in the everyday.
The video was filmed over two nights at the iconic Commodore Hotel in Christchurch where the crew were fed bottomless coffee by the graveyard-shift staff and told to “keep it down” a lot (apparently some of their guests were trying to get a little shuteye...).
The single "The Palest Of Them All" comes from the album “Absolute Truth” - winner NZ Music Awards Best Alternative Album 2016.
