Kevin Bronson on December 17th, 2020

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Catching up with recently released videos from Jhené Aiko, the Neighbourhood and Fana Hues …

JHENÉ AIKO, “10k Hours” (feat Nas)

Ever since its release in March, Jhené Aiko has been rolling out video after video for the album “Chilombo,” which has now earned Grammy nominations for album of the year, best progressive R&B album and best R&B performance (“Lighting & Thunder,” with John Legend). Here’s the latest, for one of the album highlights, “10k Hours,” which features Nas.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, “Pretty Boy” and “Stargazing”

Director Ramez Silyn chronicles the tales of Jesse Rutherford’s alter-ego Chip Chrome in two videos for songs from the Neighbourhood’s album “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones.” “Pretty Boy” was released in August, and “Stargazing” (from the already-available deluxe edition of the album) followed last week and features cameos from the likes of Blake Griffin, Lana Del Rey, Mac DeMarco, Jaden Smith, Benny Blanco, Devon Carlson and Alexa Demie. The conceit of the videos is dangerously true: “Jesse turned himself into a shiny object hoping to catch strangers eyes on the streets of Hollywood, ultimately flailing and feeling like a lost loser,” the director says. “If ‘Pretty Boy’ is the sad question… ‘Stargazing’ is meant to be the hopeful response. It’s Jesse and the band on a ‘tour,’ going door to door attempting to connect, give feeling, the same way Gibby did for him in the previous video, overcoming self-doubt. It’s about the persistence it takes to make your dream a reality, committing to the vision regardless of others’ definition of success.” In the real world, something’s working; these videos have been wildly popular.

FANA HUES, “Desert Flower”

On the heels of “Snakes x Elephants,” 25-year-old Fana Hues last week released both the video for “Desert Flower” and her debut album, “Hues.” The video, animated by Aaron Hymes from a story by Amira Hadiya, makes the whole song bloom.