Emeli Sandé - Heaven

 

• Black and white suggests she is a serious artist
• Swirling grey clouds feel ominous or threatening, suggesting she is overcoming negative forces - associating her with struggle and strength
• Bleached and shaved hair shows she is not a cookie cutter (typically nice but unoriginal, conformist) pop puppet but has a strong sense of individuality - she is rebelling against the norms that require female pop stars to be prettified
• Tilted head and upwards stare suggests strength in the face of adversity, pride and possibly something soulful or visionary - this links to the connotations of heaven and the clouds
• Use of shadows and light and dark suggest moral conflict presenting her as a serious artist dealing with the big themes and engaging with strongly personal issues
• Use of a close-up profile shot again focus attention on her face and expression; the fact that she isn't looking at us perhaps reinforces the idea of her as an artist with a mission - she isn't posing for us or engaging with us but focusing on her own ideas

Social and cultural context

• In 2009 Sandé featured on rapper Chipmunk's debut single Diamond Rings, which gave her and Chipmunk a first top 10 hit on the UK singles chart. In 2010, Sandé appeared again on Wiley's Never Be Your Woman, which became another top 10 hit, and on Let Go, which was the closing track of Tinie Tempah's debut album. Sandé also co-penned Alesha Dixon's single Radio.
• In 2010 she signed her first major record deal with Virgin Records before signing another deal with EMI in 2011.
• Heaven was her first solo track - the key job of its video is to introduce her as a solo artist in her own right and to take her out of the shadows of the other artists she has collaborated with.

• Video is filmed in North London (Bethnal Green) where she grew up
• Going back to her roots - presented as authentic and linked with the London music scene
• "British Urban" connotations are a key part of her brand
• Genre = soulful, urban trip hop
• Performance based music video was essential to build her star image and establish her as a solo artist in her own right
• Video was uploaded to Sandé's YouTube channel as first platform
• 24 million views
• Directed by Jake Nava - high profile director
• Our Version of Events - the album Heaven was featured on - was critically and commercially successful, becoming the best selling UK album of 2012
• One year after Heaven was released she had become an established artist
• Sang at the opening and closing ceremonies of London 2012 Olympics
• Rapid rise to fame

Frame analysis

• Lots of biblical iconography throughout
• Angel wings throughout the video
• Man with tattooed angel wings is sitting - fallen angel

• Depictions of lower-class people throughout suggests faith can give anyone hope
• Appeals to a mass market through presenting ordinary people

• Children depicted throughout as a representation of innocence