Piers Dennis / Self Esteem 'The Deep Blue Okay'

Rebecca and I have worked together for over 10 years now and The Deep Blue Ok shoot somehow felt like the pinnacle of our collaborations, like all the conversations we’d ever had led there. That sounds cringingly pretentious for a music video, but this feels like a deeply personal piece of work, and making it had the rare feeling of everything clicking into place.

We had 25 minutes - at the end of the album artwork shoot - to light, block and capture. Rebecca and I barely spoke a word during the entire process. The blocking movement was rehearsed, but everything else came in the moment.

We’d originally wanted to put this track into the “Town Hall Trilogy” series - but things changed and maybe for the best, as this feels like a perfect epilogue to those videos. The “Town Hall Trilogy” are songs that fit beautifully into a setting of communal experience and connection, but this song feels more internal and deceptively introverted.

I’ve been fortunate to see the new album, A Complicated Woman, come to life from its very early inception, but this shoot was the first time I witnessed Rebecca’s true expression of it and I found it profoundly moving to watch her let it all go, it felt like more performance art than lip sync take.

In the age of how’d-they-do-that one-shots this video brings nothing new - but for me, Rebecca’s performance cuts right through. We need to celebrate genuine human expression more, I believe it encourages us all to process things more. In a time where imagery seems to prioritise grabbing attention over retaining it, we need to feel more things.
When Rebecca declares “I might fucking try today” at the end of this song, she’s not punching down, or calling herself out - she’s pulling herself up at a time when she’s most beaten down. Which is an inspiring thought right now. Makes me feel some things!

-Piers Dennis