Coldcut

There’s nothing more exhilarating for an artist than to have full creative freedom and the opportunity to work on a cool project. The British duo picked an assortment of established and up-and-coming directors to create videos for their most recent album, Sound Mirrors. A wide range of visual interpretations include everything from funky urban art to children’s fables to storyboards of what seem like construction paper cut-outs. But out of all the videos the most narrative comes from director Andreas J. Riiser for the song "Mr. Nichols.” Set to a backdrop of grey concrete walls, it portrays a modern man and his inner conflicts: his struggle with love, relationships work, and society. Rather than cutting off his excessively long necktie and getting to the root of what troubles him, he compensates by using a stepladder wherever he goes. In the end, he uses that very tie in an attempt to end his misery, only to be saved by his wife, who cuts him down.