So much can be made from a slogan for fun. Such is the basis for the latest Jamie xx video for the feel-good summer hit. “I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times),” featuring Young Thug and Popcaan. Directed by Rollo Jackson from Somesuch & Co., the concept behind the In Colour album is pushed to its natural limits. Shot in New York City, the rainbow-punctuated piece is an homage to the enduring thrills of the swimming pool, from hip-hop videos to independent films.
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“I just really love filming swimming pools. But it felt right for the song, to create a sort of hyper real, hyper-colored, fantasy pool. That said I wanted it to feel in sync with Jamie and the album, so whilst it’s got typical hip-hop tropes (girls / pools etc.) it’s slightly altered, so it’s all clean lines, no faces, no jewelry. It’s about movement and color rather than focusing on bodies for the sake of bodies or luxury for the sake of luxury,” Jackson tells The Creators Project. “As an antidote to all that, Young Thug performs in an empty swimming pool with almost no color. I liked the idea of his world being a kind of flipped version of theirs, a pool turned upside down almost literally.”
Jackson knows how to capture good times. He most recently directed a Hot Chip video, a psychadelic Danny Brown joint, a rave commissioned piece for Tate Britain, a doc called Slimzee's Going on Terrible, and the cult classic, Tape Crackers: An Oral History of Jungle Pirate Radio. All these works contain a throbbing color saturation that elevates the music frame by frame, a kind of kinetic energy captured in digital format.For the "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" video, Jackson says, “Everyone felt it was really important that this video had to be colorful. I liked the challenge of presenting Young Thug and Popcaan and Jamie in this world of quite primary bold statements that felt believable yet not trying to do anything that needed to make sense.”
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Here we see immaculate moments of freedom: The good times come about as relaxed luxury with the "Good Times," slogan calling the world to action, from pyrotechnics to aerial banners over Manhattan, and the vibes captured are said to be very real. “We didn’t have Young Thug for very long so we were very pressured for time but luckily he’s one of those guys who can just switch it on every time, so right after the first take I knew it was all gonna work out. Also we got the Popcaan footage last, after we’d started editing, so when we got his section in everything kinda clicked and the video started to really feel like the song.”Check out stills from the music video, and watch "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" in full, below:
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