MF Tomlinson has released the video for his new single 'Sum Of Nothing'. The song is his meditation on the climate crisis and the absurdity of working toward a future that might not be waiting for us. Filmed in LA, the video is set on the very last day on earth and MF is skipping town.
The video premiered with Happy Magazine who said, "Impending armaggedon has reduced our lives to some kind of absurd dance, and London-based artist MF Tomlinson is quite brilliantly sound tracking this bizarre situation... [on] 'Sum Of Nothing', Tomlinson melds an infectious musical enthusiasm with painfully aware lyricism to capture this peculiar condition. In his brilliant new video for Sum Of Nothing, MF Tomlinson dances defiantly through his planet's final hours."
Director Susie Francis took inspiration from "the ever-changing playful momentum of the track, the story telling of early Spike Jonze videos and a moment of West Side Story choreography," when developing her vision for this piece..."If you listen to the lyrics, there's a lot happening here and I hope the video can keep up!"
Accordingly the video races along, landscapes and people fly by until suddenly an abandoned grocery cart picks MF up and whisks him away into the desert. Freed from the world, he and some like-minded friends make the most of what time they have left before they watch the very last sunset.
Regarding the video MF Tomlinson says, "Shooting was extremely physical and it was right in the middle of a heat wave. Polyester trousers and Doc Martens were probably the wrong choice - needless to say I got heatstroke every single day! That being said going out to the desert was such highlight.
"The director Susie found this strip in the desert where people had dumped all this garbage - as far as an apocalyptic video goes there was a ready made set! It's a video about climate change, so we tried to be as environmentally friendly as possible in every other respect including making sure all the trash used as props was properly recycled. We took the golf clubs and metal detector back to the junk shop and the cart back to the original store."
The video features MF's long time friends Gabriel Bruce - the formerly London-based singer now living in LA, and Sean Cook - Tomlinson's former band mate in Yves Klein Blue and now LA based Producer/Engineer who has worked with the likes of St Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Big Scary and of course MF Tomlinson.
'Sum Of Nothing' plays likes a meeting of Arcade Fire and Talking Heads, pulling together vibrant elements of jazzy horns, lush strings, thumping synth bass and glorious vocal harmonies to deliver an upbeat soundtrack to the global tragedy we all currently face.
'Sum Of Nothing' was released last month and has proved a hit with BBC Introducing and Radio X. The song follows the release of MF's debut single 'Nature Boy' earlier this year, which again joined the Radio X 'X-Posure' playlist. MF Tomlinson has also received critical support from the likes of Clash Magazine, Beat Magazine and more.
MF's songs are the down-but-not-out chronicles of ordinary life, widescreen portraits of his relationships and neighbourhood painted with a cast of talented collaborators. He's on a musical mission to turn up the transcendental in his everyday experiences.
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