Caviar’s Lisette Donkersloot has teamed up with songstress NAO on her video to accompany her latest single ‘Messy Love’. The captivating visuals brilliantly reflect the sentiments and overall mood of the single. Inspired by Infrared photography, the video boasts a radiant spectrum of stunning highly saturated and otherworldly colours. NAO enters alongside eccentric dancers covered in indigo blue body paint and orange-coloured gravity defying braid hairstyles all around her. They perform an abstract choreography throughout gorgeous, ever-changing backdrops of sunsets in a deserted setting. Starting out on the floor, the dancers work their way up, cleverly portraying a metaphor of plants growing as they receive sunlight and water - in the end, they return to their original horizontal positions, holding on to their goddess NAO who is ready for a new circle of life.
The track describes a relationship that’s on the rocks, and a love that is destructive with empowering words: “said I won’t break, said I won’t change my ways not even this time”. With a theme we’ve seen before and one we never tire of, ‘Messy Love’ is an ode to self-love, self-respect and choosing peace over the never-ending struggles of a detrimental relationship, and there’s something about the way the East London singer is able to draw in listeners with her sugary vocals and highly relatable lyricism that sets her apart – never shying away from the hard topics.
"Creating this video for NAO, an artist I’ve admired for so long, is really one of the best things for a director. I was so happy Shay (movement director) who I’ve known for quite some time now was happy to jump on board as he - apart from being the best in the industry - also really got what I envisioned for this promo and outstandingly translated that to the choreography and ensembled a stellar formation of female dancers. Their magical energy and professionalism was beyond phenomenal."