Basak Erol gives us a Real Love Song

If you're after a neon-lit, mixed-media, narrative-infused, visually dazzling, dark and dirty love story, do we have the music video for you.

Directed by Blink's Basak Erol (clearly a creative not adverse to hard work), the promo for Nothing But Thieves heartwrenching  Real Love Song throws so many visual elements and mediums at the screen it's hard to be overwhelmed.

However, with a deft hand and a clear ability to maintain a storytelling through-line despite the surreal visuals, the film's complex and sombre romance, backed by the band's thumping track, shines through.

Above: Basak Erol on set [Photography by Jake Wesley].

“We wanted to make a narrative video with performance woven into it," comments Erol. "It’s a video about love, but not an idyllic one we are used to seeing on the screens. It is rather a dark and ironic love as the track’s lyrics refer to it as 'Feral' and 'Dirty'. Quite miserable, the painful and unrequited kind. 

It’s a video about love, but not an idyllic one we are used to seeing on the screens.

"It’s the surreal story of three characters seeking for love in the wrong places. A different perspective to relationships in the digital age with themes of confusion and losing the grip of reality on what’s real and what’s not, and the darkness it brings into our lives.

"Working with Nothing but Thieves and Sony Music/RCA Records was an absolute pleasure, and the whole production team, from crew on set to Animation and post-production worked incredibly hard to bring these ideas to life. I feel lucky to have worked alongside a dream team of passionate people who brought so much craft into it. We were all excited about the project, supported one another and powered through it."