The video for Little Mix’s infectious collaboration with Galantis and David Guetta is here.
Directed by Samuel Douek, the visual for Heartbreak Anthem is set in a futuristic, burlesque-inspired world and follows the three members of the British girl group as they perform on stage as “The Winged Fatales”.
The video was was filmed in East End’s historic Wilton’s Music Hall.
Speaking with GAY TIMES, Douek – who directed the incredible visual for Little Mix’s latest single Confetti – said the video was inspired by Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, which he calls one of his “all-time favourite” books.
“The novel is about a woman who is hatched from an egg with wings and runs away with the circus. It’s a feminist tale about freedom and immediately sprung to mind when I first heard the track,” he says.
As a fan of all-things sci-fi, cabaret and drag, Douek says the video was also influenced by the 1997 cult classic The Fifth Element and Baz Luhrman’s 2001 musical Moulin Rouge.
Little Mix’s characters perform each night to adoring crowds, according to Douek, “but behind starry eyes and bright smiles a backstage melancholia pervades and the girls feel trapped in this trippy sci-fi burlesque world.
“As we journey through the narrative, the Seafox Galantis logo becomes a symbol of liberation that glitches on screen as Little Mix find happiness in their own skin.”
Before shooting the video, Douek says choreographer Benjamin Milan was enlisted for the project as the routines marked a “much softer, feminine and surreal” type of movement compared to their usual choreo.
“This is the second time I have worked with Jade [Thirlwall], Perrie [Edwards] and Leigh-Anne [Pinnock] and they are a total dream to work with,” continues Douek, before sharing a story from the set of Heartbreak Anthem.
“When the wings arrived at rehearsal and the girls saw them for the first time they were super impressed,” he recalls.
“I guess a lot of people were expecting flimsy feathers but these were huge, realistic, remotely controlled mechanical wings and each girl had their own feather hue that suited their personalities. Leigh-Anne looked at me and said, “Okay, you can be on every shoot.””
The bespoke wings were created by Jake Linzey, Creative Director of Leviathan Workship Limited – the same company behind the giant puppets in Katy Perry’s iconic performance at the 2017 BRIT Awards.
“The wings were made in just over three and a half weeks with a team of up to six makers,” Linzey says of the creation process.
“Apart from some laser cut components, the wings are entirely hand made, all the feathers were stitched or glued and some have mechanical fixing to allow them to move.
“I think the concern early on was that the wings needed to look luxurious and as real as possible, they didn’t want to feel like a costume piece but rather as if they were real and very far away from a piece that you could buy off the shelf at a costume store.
“The concept was then taken to the label who in discussion with Little Mix decided it was a concept they liked.”
Thanks to Douek and Linzey, Heartbreak Anthem is sure to be inducted into Little Mix’s music video hall of fame.
The former looks forward to the next time he collaborates with the pop powerhouses, saying: “I will always challenge them to make the most iconic music video ever and they are 100% up for it.” Bring it on, we say.
Heartbreak Anthem is now available on iTunes and streaming services – listen to the track here on Apple Music and watch the incredible visual below.
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