Shangrila - Lift Me Up (Single, 2021, Independent)

‘Lift Me Up’ is the first single in a series developed over the first quarter of 2021. This initial single cycle features a body of work art directed by myself, as well as a video production art directed separately by Raz Media.

The process for this piece started with breaking the lyrics down, along with a desire from the band to move towards a more elegant and simple visual aesthetic. We discussed a variety of references, with one of the key pieces being Lost In Translation. This would come up a little more later on in the series. A few of the lines in the song really jumped out as visual markers, being references to water, storms and being wrapped up in emotional turmoil.

Quickly realising that using actual water would probably lead to me losing all my bond for my apartment, I decided to draw from some of the work I’d done with Pot Plant House Party using fabrics, but in this case, moving it to obscure the form of the model and create a sense of movement, flow, recreating the aesthetic of rushing water but in an oblique way that comes through a little more when listening closely to the song.

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve worked with any kind of human aspect for artwork, especially through the last 12 months of having to produce work sometimes during lockdown conditions. One of the important parts of this series for me was working with the idea of anonymity, to keep the artwork focused deliberately on the concept and the emotions of the song. I wanted to create a series where people could feel themselves in the covers, that they could be wrapped in this turmoil themselves in this case. A variety of people feature throughout the series as a result.

The final image was shot on Kodak Portra 400 with the Hasselblad 500cm, and the film grain and how it renders texture cleared up some concerns with the extreme moire effect from the fabric which was showing up on my digital references. The two in combination was beautiful to see coming back from the lab scans from Silver Halide Studios. Lighting was from a mixture of Nanlite LED heads and panels, with a softbox camera right and a tungsten light behind the fabric camera left so throw some colour in behind and through the shadows.

Many thanks to Madeleine for sitting in a hot, end-of-summer apartment in a turtleneck.

The release also featured two sets of promotional press images, one set not directly tied to the release but colour coordinated to maintain brand consistency, and designed to give the band longevity and plenty of content to use for a variety of uses over the next six months. The second set was specifically shot and graded to tie in with the video created for the single by Raz Media which was produced after the artwork and initial promotional set. These images would then also would form the basis for the art direction and much of the branding for the larger release cycle - yet to be published.

First set of press images produced as a combination of digital with the Nikon D850 and wireless flash heads, and on Kodak Portra 800 with the Leica M6 and ambient light only for a softer more approachable aesthetic. Second set of press images produced digitally with the D850 and coloured gels in a studio setting.

Video produced by Raz Media (including graphic elements)

As part of the package provided, there were also a series of differently formatted show posters created for the single launch, designed individually for each platform and use - square Instagram feed post, print A3 poster, Facebook page and event banner, and Instagram story crop. These featured graphic elements designed to foreshadow future works, and to tie the entire release together by working from some of the colour palette ideas introduced in the video production. Graphic typeface elements were also designed and approved prior to release to carry through to future releases in the cycle for brand consistency across all the elements I was directly responsible for - more to come soon.