Griff launches performance video for brand new single, ‘Black Hole’ (Warner Music)
“Multicultural, multi-hyphenated, and multi-talented…four walls can’t confine this utterly unique teenager.” Vogue
“Griff looks every bit like pop’s bright new star…it is, quite frankly, all rather brilliant” – i-D
“A fierce and distinctive talent…perfection” Sunday Times
“Move over Dua Lipa, because Griff is well on her way to becoming the next face of British pop” Elle
“A phenomenon…the teenage boss about to take charge of pop” NME
Griff has today unveiled a creative live performance video of latest single ‘Black Hole’, which is available now. Currently A-Listed at Radio 1, the last few weeks alone have seen Griff shortlisted for the prestigious BBC Brit List (having placed top 5 in the Sound Poll), perform for MTV Music Meets Fashion Week, and seen the Taylor-Swift-approved star hard at work on much more music to be announced soon…
Following Griff’s latest live moment at the Tate Modern (watch here), the performance video for ‘Black Hole’ was directed by Thomas Ralph of Caviar, who comments that “the idea was to keep it simple yet absorbing; capturing the full live energy of Griff and her band in a way that felt more than your standard live session. We used an endless feeling VBx2 infinity wall to reflect the ‘Black Hole’ theme – a visual that was exciting and technically challenging due to its infancy – and a shifting day to night edit across two roughly similar full performances. Doing so allowed Griff to take centre stage whilst her performance is inter-cut between natural daylight and a stylised look as if inside a black hole. The icing on the cake was being the first band to perform and crew to film in the beautifully restored Hackney Church; you could almost smell the new paint.”
Watch the live performance of ‘Black Hole’ here
An instant dark-pop anthem, lyrically ‘Black Hole’ takes Griff further down the rabbit-hole of modern teenage life in her own, already-distinct style. An instant dark-pop anthem, the track premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World, and was followed with a surreal, Alice in Wonderland’-esque journey from the sewing room into self-discovery.
2021 marks Griff’s arrival amongst the big leagues of British Pop. Born to Chinese and Jamaican parents just out of Watford, she began making music by borrowing her brother’s Logic: teaching herself how to produce songs in secret from her classmates (many of whom only found out what Griff was up to when they heard her on the radio whilst she was doing her A Levels). Today, Griff’s is the type of curiosity and creative control that draws no boundaries between making beats, designing your own clothes, shooting a music video on your iPhone under lockdown or taking over Tate Modern for just her second ever London show. And whilst it’s easy to forget, Griff’s rawly vulnerable moments on ‘Black Hole’ are a vivid reminder of how vast her potential still is. Here are acutely observed tracks on those teenage friendship (‘1,000,000 X Better’), mental health (‘Say It Again’), your stinging formative breakups (‘Forgive Myself’) and the importance of family (see viral ballad ‘Good Stuff’, and its moving account of Griff’s family fostering kids). In Griff’s hands, all these experiences are turned into something uniformly positive, and make her particular model of bedroom pop feel fitting for a legion of young girls to follow. Even in a ‘Black Hole’, Griff’s future shines startlingly bright.
Video still from Hackney Church
Watch live performance of ‘Black Hole’ here
Watch ‘Black Hole’ here / Listen here
Watch Griff live at Tate Modern here
Watch ‘Love Is A Compass’ live performance here