The Most Creative Music Videos of April 2014

While March was already a very strong month for creative music videos, the ones that dropped in April seriously took things to another level, at least in terms of breadth and experimentation.

Some videos were creative in their examination of music itself, like Jamie xx's video for "Sleep Sound," which showed artist Sofia Mattioli and deaf people from the Manchester Deaf Centre dancing to the song, showing the power of music to affect people in a metaphysical way beyond sound alone. Other videos ruffled critical feathers, like Sky Ferreira's video for "I Blame Myself," which pays tribute to Michael Jackson in Ferreira's hometown of LA. Some initially missed the point and called the video "racist" for having only black dancers supporting her, but there's a lot more depth and meaning to unpack scene to scene.

Beyond being impactful or beautiful alone, there were music videos that technologically wowed us, from Throwing Snow's "The Tempest," which uses CGI and repetitions of two animated dancers, and World's Fair's "Nem Diggas," an interactive web music video that allows you to experience a house party from multiple angles. Per usual, there were also videos that tenderly celebrate youth and highlight growing pains, from Oceaán's "Need U" to Jackson and His Computerband's "Memory."

And lastly, what would awesome, creative music videos be without humor? Get to know these works and the directors behind them in The Most Creative Music Videos of April 2014.

RELATED: The Most Creative Music Videos of March 2014
RELATED: 15 Music Videos Starring Visual Artists

Director: Sofia Mattioli

London-based artist Sofia Mattioli came up with the video for "Sleep Sound" after a deaf woman on the subway observed Mattioli listening to music. The woman wrote Mattioli a letter saying she could almost feel the music through the artist's movements. From there, Mattioli invited 13 members of the Manchester Deaf Centre to dance along with her to Jamie xx's song. The video shows the power of music to transcend even physical disabilities.

Director: Pavel Cejka and Klara Vystrcilova

The first video from the creatives behind the Weeknd, DropxLife, is more like a kinky fashion film. Dig a little deeper, and you learn that it was shot in Prague with original, handcrafted vests and patchworks by local artist Klara Vystrcilova. We look forward to seeing more from the XO crew.

Director: Grant Singer

In Sky Ferreira's video for "I Blame Myself," the punk pixie plays the part of a gangster, ruling the streets and facing the law. While the video was unfairly criticized for being racist, calling the use of her black dancers as "props," Ferreira has spoken out against these accusations. In many ways, her video actually disrupts racial stereotypes, inserting herself into a black community (with dancers who she says are actually family members) and allowing them to step out of the role of gangsters through a choreographed dance.

Director: TRUSST / Melissa Matos

The video for "No Excuse" is a stunning take on the human body and its movement through space. Playing with textures and shapes of clothing and fabrics, the video looks like an avant garde fashion ad meeting abstract collage.

Director: Rick Robin

Do yourself a favor and put "The Tempest" on full screen while watching hundreds of tiny animated dancers come to life. They are in fact Femke Luyckx and Medhi Walerski, duplicated using CGI by Rick Robin. *mind explodes*

Director: Jordan Michael Blake

Blake creates a sci-fi vintage love story played out by two kids in the video for "A Stranger Love." The black and white narrative follows a boy and a girl as they run across an empty city, tee-peeing a mansion and playing laser tag. But the dark universe they live in isn't so innocent. Pairing sinister graphics with childhood play, this video is unexpectedly sweet.

Director: Maxim Kelly

Boxed In's "No Joke" starts with a sign that reads, "When you are in a depression" and offers tips like "Go out to meet people" and "Join a 'Laughing Club.'" Next, it shows the ultimate cure, in the form of old people dancing. Pop music and humor come together in photographer Maxim Kelly's short film of the KolKata Laughing Society.

Director: Luis Cervero

Pharrell's ode to the ladies can't help but highlight the incredible bodies of his dancers, but it does so tastefully and goes on to specifically celebrate girliness. Instead of the typical bikini-clad video honeys, he shows a multicultural group of women with badass dance moves and beautiful smiles to boot.

Director: Joel Kefali

Filmed in black and white, the video for Red Bull Sound Select artists Denitia and Sene pairs landscape photography with animations and digital renderings. The result looks like a collage of experimental photography and video art. Coming from the director behind Lorde's "Tennis Courts" and "Royals," we would expect nothing less.

Director: So Me

Jackson and His Computerband's "Memory" video owes its 16mm black and white brilliance to the pop romance of the song and a fantastic representation of it by So Me (the illustrator behind our 2009 Keri Hilson cover story and Art Director at Ed Banger Records). A couple experiences intense romance and disaster in captivating and heartwarming scenes of carwash make-outs and late night take-out.

Director: Ozzie Pullin

Don't let the simplicity of the guy and girl dancing in Oceaán's "Need U" distract from its overall awesomeness. It's an ode to South London's streets, shops, and youth, who like kids everywhere else, wander with headphones helping to soundtrack their journeys.

Director: Hiro Murai

While Childish may have expressed some frustration about how this video went down, it's still cool to see him repeating his steps in a diner while encountering clones of himself multiplying over the course of the video. The defiance and "don't be mad" attitude of the song becomes amplified the more versions of him appear in the video. At the end, it's just a powerful portrait of him pondering and singing his heart out, with dancers emerging and swaying around him.

Director: LAMAR+NIK

The 19-year-old British singer known as MNEK put together an eccentric video filled with an '80s color scheme and a beautifully bizarre group of people. The best part may be the abstract art in the background that makes the video feel like it takes place in an artist's fun house.

Director: Chris Saunders

Colorful costumes and trippy glitches come together in perfect harmony for Nozinja's "Tsekeleke" video. The man behind Shangaan electro, a folk music/dance music hybrid, brings together traditions from South African culture and Internet art for a magical combination.

Director: Shane Annas & Alec Sutherland

World's Fair's new music video is a dope 360-degree experience. The interactive video allows you to scroll through a party, which makes the experience different from every angle. We still can't figure out how they filmed it, especially with that mirror in the corner. Watch it here.

Director: Eric K. Yue

With an appropriately raw aesthetic, the video for "Canal" travels across domestic and public spaces in New York. From Chinatown apartments to street side graffiti, the video captures New York in its grimy glory.

Director: Marc Klasfeld

Katy Perry is the queen of awesome music videos, where she's not afraid to stray from being overtly sexy, and her most recent one for "Birthday" doesn't disappoint. Perry dresses up in five different disguises, where she plays awful birthday entertainers, and then goes to actual birthday parties. The video is hilarious and plays with the traditional notion of a pop performance.

Director: Rik Cordero

Shot in Super 8mm film by Complex's own Rik Cordero, this music video shows gritty NYC in all its urban beauty. For the video, Cordero wanted to capture lesser-known spots in New York, including places that conveyed "home" for Party Supplies.

Director: Dugan O'Neal

Armand Van Helden and A-Trak's disco house side-project, Duck Sauce, took the world by storm with "Barbra Streisand" back in 2010, letting everyone know that the producer/DJs have a sense of humor and aren't afraid to make fun of themselves. The video for "NRG" is a corny infomercial for a product that seems to get you hyped but looks like dish soap (and has some seriously horrible side effects). It's bright, kitsch, and hilarious—so where can we buy it?!

Director: Adam Bainbridge

"Did your hometown influence the adult you became?" asks Blood Orange's new video in capitalized text. The video goes on to ask other questions about growing up and the role music played in the artist's life. Paired with these questions, Bainbridge filmed scenes in Blood Orange/Devonté Hynes' hometown, showing how the spaces that surround us and the music that we listen to help definethe people we become.