Alt-J, Breezeblocks Analysis

Alt-J’s music video for Breezeblocks does not conform to any particular genre characteristics or stereotypes, as the storyline of the video is what appears to be a domestic dispute in reverse. However because it is very hard to label Alt-J with a particular genre it could be argued that the music video does conform to their ‘genre’ by not displaying stereotypical characteristics of any one genre.

This is a screenshot of the two main characters in the video, the lighting is consistently dark throughout.

The lyrics and visuals appear to have a contradicting relationship as the story depicted in the video is not directly relevant to the lyrics, and the video is in no way amplifying the content of the lyrics. In terms of music and visuals there is some editing to the beat although it is not constant. An example of editing to the beat in this music video is that there is a cut every time the more upbeat and louder bar in the song is played.

It is clear from the video that the record label did not insist on the band being present in the video, therefore it can be inferred that the label is not focusing on using the bands image to sell their music. However the video does impact on the bands star persona as viewers will associate the complicated story of the video with the band. This could be effective in selling the music because the video is so confusing that people are likely to discuss it after watching it which may encourage others to watch the video and perhaps buy the single.

Above is the video on youtube.