Music Video Review – Evoke – Revelations

As soon as Our Muchness Guide got the opportunity to write about Evoke again, I jumped at the chance. Evoke have been regulars in our posts, our Spotlight Artist only a few months ago and we were more than happy to review their new music video for their song Revelations but, for those who don’t know Evoke, they are a four piece indie/pop/fusion trad band from Loughrea in Galway and you can check out their Spotify here. Their new music video was released today (Nov 11th) at 6pm

Revelations Music Video Review

E: In our EP review, we came to the conclusion that ‘Revelations’ seems to be a song that touches on the topic of the end of a relationship. I, personally, think it was an excellent idea to choose Revelations as the song to make a video for as it seems to be the song that has the deepest emotional content and impact. ‘Revelations’ is from Evoke’s latest EP of the same name and the video was produced by Jack Kelly, who framed some of the shots in this video spectacularly. Unlike some music videos, rather than the video telling a story, the emphasis of the video seems to be the song itself and the performance of the song. The minimalist approach to production and no visual storytelling as such puts the emphasis on the song itself and the story that it tells which I think is a great idea so the viewer can appreciate the song properly.

We open on a derelict house which, on the outside, looks to be falling into disrepair and, on the inside, seems to have been abandoned for quite some time. There is furniture present but it is damaged or broken in some way or another and implies that, though well used, it wasn’t looked after. There also seems to be debris on the stairs that has come in from outside which implies that the house is not sealed from the natural elements and that it is exposed and from our opening shot we can tell it is isolated as well. Personally, I like the idea of the derelict house as a representation of what a person could feel after a relationship ends. With plenty of focus on the lyrics, the viewer may not need to see the visual representation of the story to understand the intention behind the song. The state of the house and it’s content can be considered as a physical representation of the lyric’s emotion. The video has no extras or a female lead which, for some, may heighten the sense of isolation and abandonment or could be simply one way to abide by social distancing guidelines but, either way, it works. I feel that, had the song had a female lead, it would have detracted from the story telling of the song.

This kind of video let’s the song do the talking and doesn’t rely on flashy visuals and heavy handed production to draw the audience. The focus is the song and this approach suits the song and band’s style and is a perfect example of matching the tone of the video’s content with the tone of the song.

N: As Emma has already said when we saw Evoke in our inbox, we jumped at the opportunity! ‘Revelations’ is by far my favourite song off of the EP and, when I saw it was their first official music video in over three years, I knew it was going to be powerful! 

If you are not familiar with Evoke’s music video, let me break down what I have learned from them. Evoke’s primary focus is on the instruments and the band’s performance, first and foremost, with the story taking a secondary role. In my personal opinion, their first music video ‘To Conquer’ focused slightly more on a visual story happening within the music video. While with ‘Revelations’, the way of production behind the music video makes sure the song itself is the focus for the viewer. The music video was shot and produced by Jack Kelly and I personally want to say Bravo on a clean cut and well put together music video. The transitions between the scenes within the abandoned house and each member of Evoke had a correlation between shots. I personally liked how it was all edited together too. 

Onto the analyzing the music video itself! It is important to remember, as Emma has pointed out, that during our review of the EP, we came to the conclusion that ‘Revelations’ tells the story of the end of a relationship. ‘Revelations’ opening scene introduces us to an abandoned house where Evoke themselves are peppered around the rooms on the bottom floor inside. The house itself is slowly moving its way towards ruin yet the contents inside are still in their exact places, as if the family just walked out and abandoned it one day. Clever shots dipping between instruments, band members and the house itself follows. 

One aspect that jumped out at me, as a viewer and as someone who enjoys symbolism, is the choice of content within the house that was picked to zone in on. My favourite of these was the candle. It appears in two shots of the music video. The first at the side of the dresser at the side of the shot but, due to it being lit, it becomes the focus of the shot as it is a lighter colour in comparison to the dark colours of the rest of the shot. The second use of the candle is layered over Keagan’s silhouette as he is singing some of the most important lyrics in the song in my opinion. One definition of the word ‘Revelations’ is “something that is revealed especially: an enlightening or astonishing disclosure”. With this definition and the message of the song itself, I interpreted this recurring symbol within the music video as the hope within that will not be dampened when looking for love. This could be me just being a hopeless romantic but it is a nice idea instead of going for the usual ‘there is always light at the end of the tunnel’.

Other aspects focused on include a list of names and years of what I am presuming are years of birth listed inside a dresser while debris on the stairs is a key focus as well. These together show the length of time the house has been standing while comparing it to how long the house has been left alone from the outside world. Digging deeper into the use of a derelict house, I agree with Emma that this was a clever use of a visual representation on how a person can feel after a breakup. All the while using that candle as representation that not all is lost and someday you can try all over again with someone new. Overall, I enjoyed the ‘cutting it back to the basics’ and focusing on solely the music with the visual representations telling you the story by symbolism instead of people themselves.