BEKS is the exciting new pop project by Brisbane based singer-songwriter Rebecca Collander. The former lead singer and guitarist of the punk-rock band RACKETT has stepped into a colourful new light and has begun exploring a slinky pop soundscape that is fresh and addictive. Introducing herself to listeners with the playful tracks ‘Crush’, and ‘Stars In My Eyes’, she laid the important experiential foundations that this project is built upon. But her new single ‘The Thing About Us’ is the MOMENT.
Immediately captivating you with its pulsating sonic, this track draws you into a world that is reminiscent of Robyn and Carly Rae Jepsen. Not only is the production heavily synth layered and punches a big infectious hook, but she also manages to layer a contrasting reflection of love. Exploring the reality of dating in a social media world; she foreshadows the honeymoon period with the unfortunate complications of just not being ready to date, and the chemistry just not being strong enough to keep them together. “The thing about us is I told you a lie when I said that I was ready to love. The thing about us, you’re my best friend, only on the weekend, only when I see ya” she sings during the anthemic hook.
To capture the strong lyrical vision behind this total pop banger, Beks shot a cinematic music video over summer with a real life love interest. Directed by Beau Bressington from Bread Productions, and in a fashion collaboration with Kimbralou, they honed this bright and colourful visual diary of a relationship with a dark and moody contrast of reality. Bringing to life the lyrics quite candidly, this video felt even more passionate and honest because her co-star was an actual current love interest. But shooting this video was the beginning of the downfall of their relationship which stemmed from filming their fake fight scene, which later turned into a real fight moment.
ThomasBleach.com is exclusively running a behind the scenes gallery from ‘The Thing About Us’ music video shoot captured Nissquik. But on top of that, we also had a little chat with Beks to get some more insight to the emotions behind the video, the real life romance that was sparked with her co-star, and found out the funniest and weirdest thing that happened on set.
THOMAS BLEACH: What was the biggest emotion/feeling you wanted the music video to capture from ‘The Thing About Us’?
BEKS: I wanted the music video to create an illusion. It looks and feels like a love story on the surface, but it’s actually a premonition of break up. This reflects the meaning behind the song as it’s about being able to break the glass ceiling and see the hard truth beyond the fairytale before it all goes up in flames. I feel it’s about seeing someone for who they really are and not the projection of what you want them to be.
TB: With the chemistry captured and the summer fling that occurred with your co-star around the time of filming, has that shifted how you look at the song or video?
B: Not so much how I feel about the song, but how I feel about myself. To be totally honest in some ways it’s reinforced a sense of disappointment and guilt about my romantic failings when I watch it back, like all the ghosts of lovers lost return to the room. The lens pulling focus on my behaviour has given me an opportunity to mature by being able to detect red flags and misalignment before getting in too deep moving forward. Writing songs helps me to bring my subconscious behaviour and beliefs to the surface, seeing them dramatised in a film is like that on steroids.
TB: What was the funniest/weirdest thing that happened during the shoot?
B: Well the film itself felt cursed in a way. We were acting out this fight scene and the fake things we were yelling about once the camera stopped rolling, is what we actually ended up breaking up over. Like this film about a premonition was manifesting within itself.
Another challenge was the driving scene, Joey is from the UK and hasn’t driven in Australia, so there we were on a single lane highway with Joey driving this monster American vintage convertible with my director driving next to us at 100km using our phones to try and line up the shot. It was pretty daring, adrenaline was high!
TB: What location did you feel like was the signature aesthetic and feeling of ‘The Thing About Us’?
B: That’s a good question. The scene where we’re drinking and making out encapsulates the tone of these flings. Getting wasted and blurry, throwing caution to the wind, and not being 100% conscious or aware because we’re just getting caught up in the fantasy. Also the end scene where I’m beating myself up for getting so messy is fairly signature of how I react at the end of a breakup. Well, that and writing a song.
Check out the full gallery captured by Nissquik Photography BELOW;
Photos by Nissquik