The Best Music Videos of the Month (May 2015)

Director: Weirdcore

“Cause I'm a Man” may well be Tame Impala's best single off their forthcoming album Currents, and they made one mind-fuck of a video to accompany it.

The animation has beautiful digital visuals: we follow a man whose head keeps changing, the image subjected to a constant swirling motion and trompe l'oeils that, combined with the psychedelic vibes of the track, are sure to make you feel a little wavy.

Strangely, and perhaps to appease people waiting on the album, Tame Impala also released a second video for the track. This time, the band members are puppets. Not as trippy as the video below but depending on your opinion on puppets, it could still freak you out.

Director: Seth Mendelson

In the video for “Without You,” Tobias Jesso Jr. is a lounge singer soundtracking a steamy, dimly lit romantic encounter between an older woman and a younger man. It's a beautifully shot video that draws you in and helps to give the already very emotional song another level of intensity.

Beyond that, it's a welcome change and a bold move on Jesso's part to cast an older woman in the music video. It's been pointed out a lot recently, but it bears repeating that men are constantly matched with younger women in media, while as women age they tend to fade away. Props to Tobias Jesso Jr. for doing something different.

Director: Dexter Navy

A$AP always goes pretty big with his videos, but “L$D” is truly over the top. The video, which he co-directed alongside Dexter Navy, finds Rocky wandering the streets of Tokyo. The oversaturated city is depicted as opulent neon drug palace, and it's a perfect match for the hazy track.

Usually visual depictions of psychedelic drugs are embarrassingly lame and are too close to bad '60s movies, but this video gets it right by invoking the spirit of psychedelic films like Enter The Void. The colored haze of the drugs also reminds me a lot of Jesse Kanda's work for Arca, which is definitely a good thing. Get weird with the video below and then go cop the album which is out now.

Director: Matt Walker

At first look, JME's newest video featuring Giggs is a pretty regular grime vid: JME is flanked by his mates (including some of the big-name lads in grime), everyone wearing black and rapping into the camera. The video hits the next level, though, thanks to JME's amazing use of props: he literally sets a mic on fire and smashes some play blocks to great affect. And that's before even mentioning Giggs' "digestives and cinnamon tea."

Director: Nick Rutter

Cars are always sold to us in a sexual way, but rarely is the metaphor followed through so thoroughly as it is in Lapalux's latest video for “Puzzle.” The haunting track is accompanied by a man falling into a sleazy love affair with a car, resulting in the breakdown of his relationship and ultimately a pretty sinister ending.

Lapalux's latest album Lustmore is based on hypnagogia, the transitional state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep. This video mixes the concept with lust, resulting in what Lapalux describes as "that kind of sultry, seedy undertone and the pieces of the puzzle not fitting together properly, as if in a state of limbo where you don’t know where you are, but there’s something strangely comforting about it.”

Director: Grant Singer

The Weeknd's latest track entitled “The Hills” (not “Mood Music” as fans originally thought) finally got a video last week. We start by seeing Abel crawling out of a car and walking steadily away from the wreck and the chaos even as his fellow passengers hit and scream at him. He ends up at a dilapidated mansion with some rough looking people in the bed.

The track is produced by Illangelo and Mano, and has the smoothness you'd expect given those names, so the video's rough edges are a nice juxtaposition with the track. Look out for the perfectly timed car explosion, it ties the whole video together.

Director:Clemens Habicht

Flume's long-awaited return came with a video, and what a video. The young Australian producer rented out the iconic Sydney Opera House for the occasion, floating through the storied halls with a numb expression, eventually exploding into a warped dance that coincides with the ticklish drop. He's back in a big way.

Director: Ian Pons Jewell

“Señorita” is the first video single off Vince’s debut album, Summertime '06, and he went hard for it. In “Señorita,” Vince takes the archetype of the "hood video" and turns it on its head, questioning who the real audience is while touching on issues such as mass incarceration and cultural appropriation.

The video is shot in black and white and follows Vince and a tattooed preacher, who carries a bible bearing Vince's VS insignia. It's a pretty layered project with a lot going on, so watch it a couple times to really get a feel for the details. The track is good enough that it shouldn't be a problem.

Director: Sam De Jong

For “Very First Breath,” Hudson Mohawke collabs with Irfane to deliver a pleading love song accompanied by a video following two lovers from rival gangs. Think of is as a post-apocalyptic version of West Side Story.

This track is close to Hudmo's heart: he's quoted as saying “the album flows through the passage of the day and in my head, I see this song as the very beginning of the record. The sun just coming up. It was important this was the first track people hear.” With glitter, neon lights and girl gangs, the video definitely has a end of the night/dawn vibe to it.

Director: Nathan R. Smith

"P's & Q's" is an amazing video. It was recorded in one shot, but in real time lasted just 15 seconds. The slowed down video shows Jenkins walking through a crowd of people pelting him with various party items; water guns, silly string and confetti, as well as fire and water.

The director Nathan. R Smith said, “We wanted to shoot something with a constant flow of motion to complement Mick's unending verse. I created the idea of Mick walking through a scene of complete chaos, yet being unaffected by everything.” The result is a transfixing and oddly calming video that will surely have you hitting that replay button.