The Best Music Videos of the Month (January 2015)

Director: Ed Morris

Ibeyi continue to put out strong music videos which reflect their multicultural artistry and sisterly chemisty. Similar to the simple yet effective concept for "River," where they are submersed in water before coming up to sing, in "Ghosts," a soft black and white visual has them fading in and out of each other, even as they play piano. The video plays perfectly off of the song's gentle beginning and cheerful ending.

Related: Get to Know XL's Latest Signing, French-Cuban Twins Ibeyi

Director: Chad VanGaalen

Shabazz Palaces' many spectacular videos from 2014 had spot-on acting and perfectly done CGI effects, but the band and Chad VanGaalen decided to let loose and have a little more fun with "Forerunner Foray." Psychedelic drawings become pristine, multi-colored animations bringing outer space and Magic Johnson together in a humorous, adventurous way.

Related: A Conversation With Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler

Director: Act Natural

"Up To the Crime" follows a character in West London who's involved in the illegal gun trade. The scenes follow him mostly at night, taking the viewer on suspenseful twists and turns throughout the city. The end is tragic yet meaningful.

Director: Rob Schroeder

Odd Future's Left Brain has the starring role in BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah's "Ray Gun" featuring DOOM. He wears a mask in the sci-fi, '60s-esque video, as he tries to save a girl before getting knocked out. While the narrative isn't necessarily resolved, he ends up in the desert staring at a UFO with a girl at his side, so no one can feel too bad for him.

Director: Emily McDonald and Nev Brook

"Indecision" follows a guy in London who's living two lives, one with a masculine appearance and one with a feminine appearance. He pulls off both of them, but his expression throughout suggests that perhaps he feels as if he has to choose one or the other. By the end, at the dance party where Shura herself is present, the character appears momentarily happy.

Director: Simon Halsall

Grime has a long and rich history of videos shot "in the ends"—on the streets and in the buildings where the artists themselves live. Whether it's grainy footage of Wiley and Ghetto freestyling back in the day or Skepta's official "That's Not Me (Remix)" video, the prevailing style is shaky, low quality, and shot with a handycam. The video for Mumdance and Novelist's "1 Sec" stays true to grime's visual traditions, but presents them in a more cinematic way, one that engages the audience whether or not they're familiar with the genre.

Director: twigs & Paula Harrowing

FKA twigs teased images from her "Pendulum" video last July but waited to release the full visual until the top of 2015. The image she first shared, where she's wrapped in shibari-style bondage, was striking enough, but the magic of "Pendulum" is in all of its dynamic scenes combined. Overall, her hair is shown as a source of great power; it alternately constrains her and frees her physically and emotionally.

Related: The Perfect FKA twigs GIF For Every Occasion

Director: Hiro Murai

Hiro Murai's music videos continually outdo themselves. In Childish Gambino's "Sober," similar to his previously released "Sweatpants" video, Gambino finds himself in a diner having an existential moment. This time, he's with a girl, letting her know how high he is and trying to win her over. Whereas "Sweatpants" may have been an internal struggle, "Sober" is most definitely an external one. The audience benefits from his dancing and theatrics, as Childish Gambino continually proves to us that he is a multi-faceted, unstoppable, and unpredictable entertainer.

Director: Sia and Daniel Askill

Shia LaBeouf and Maddie Ziegler (who starred in Sia's viral "Chandelier" video) star in "Elastic Heart," choreographed by Ryan Heffington. Instead of focusing on Ziegler's singular struggle, LaBeouf enters the narrative and goes against Maddie in intense sequences of abstract fighting. They seem to deal with the emotional struggle of the song's lyrical content as they pace back and forth around each other, making this video as tender as it is relatable to anyone who's felt like they've fought a similar, cathartic fight.

Related: 1o Recent Music Videos That Make Us Want to Learn How to Dance

Director: Young Replicant

The videos released for Flying Lotus' most recent album, You're Dead!, have all taken viewers on journeys where death is the subject matter at hand. At moments, FlyLo seems to be celebrating life, and at other moments, he seems to be poking fun at the temporality of it all. "Coronus, The Terminator" begins with a group of people laying hands on a dying man, with no explanation as to how he got there. Through various fantastical scenes, where FlyLo himself sings and dances, the viewer sees zombie-like creatures before learning how this man got shot. A video like this couldn't be more relevant, especially in America where increased, unjust gun violence seems to be spreading without the government stepping in to make change.