Sound and vision

The video for Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots is unusual in that it resembles something you would see in a forensics laboratory or a procedural drama series. Utilizing CGI software, the clip shows cranial scans and facial reconstruction techniques to expose and explore the process of building an individual, who is, in this case, Albarn.

The frontman of ’90s Britpop supergroup Blur, and a host of projects such as Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & the Queen, is set to release his debut solo album, also called “Everyday Robots,” in April. The lead single, about the mundanity — and perhaps loneliness — of life in the digital age, offers a mere glimpse of what’s in store, but that’s not the only element worth mentioning. The project has Aitor Throup, one of London menswear’s most distinctive and conceptual new designers, to oversee its “visual system”.

ABOUT PROCESS

It used be that only advertising agencies, fashion magazines and a select number of global lifestyle brands, such as Puma and Apple, employed creative directors. Now, musicians are hiring them, too. Born in Argentina in 1980, Throup moved to the UK 12 years later. Combining a fascination for anatomy with a keen interest in drawing, he completed his fashion studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and London’s Royal College of Art, winning accolades for designs that use his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments.

“Throup’s work has always been about process,” declares London’s Dazed magazine. This research-based approach, evident in the archives of his recently launched website, has led to collaborations with labels such as Stone Island and Umbro. Everyday Robots isn’t the first time Throup has worked with a figure from the music world. In 2011, the British rock group Kasabian also appointed him creative director of their fourth studio record, “Velociraptor”.

FROM ‘BORN THIS WAY’ TO ‘BEYONCÉ’

While the public has given Beyoncé a lot of credit for shaking up the record industry with the success of her top-secret visual album, Todd Tourso, creative director of the million-selling “Beyoncé”, also deserves recognition. “I would pitch her directors; I would listen to the songs with her and then figure out what directors should work on what videos,” he told Vulture. 

Before accepting the position in June 2013, Tourso, an art director, designer, and illustrator based in Los Angeles, California, was creative director of Flaunt magazine from 2005 to 2009. He also provided brand direction and development for Lady Gaga during the “Born This Way” era in 2010 to 2012.

DISNEY MACHINE

It’s not only fashion designers and illustrators, however, who are taking on the role. With the breakup of the Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas has found a way to stay busy: He’s now the musical and creative director of Demi Lovato’s Neon Lights tour, which kicked off earlier this month. “I’m overseeing video content, wardrobe, lighting and staging. And then I’m extending into the musical side of things, which includes creating the arrangements for the songs. I’m building what Demi wanted, which is a show without stops and starts,” he told Rolling Stone.

The youngest Jonas has been friends with Lovato for eight years and the two, both products of the Disney machine, share a manager. The 21-year-old performer says their relationship has supplied him with “the insight into how to best communicate with her and her team.” It seems that sometimes the best person to help craft a musician’s visual concept or narrative is, quite logically, another musician.

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