VIDEO PREMIERE: Anna Cordell – ‘You’

Melbourne indie-folk artist Anna Cordell and friend Samuel Kostevk only had one day to get the music video for intimate hit You done, which resulted in a stripped-back effort that matches the song’s delicate and haunting melodies.

“We were winging it a bit on the day, no storyboard, no set plans,” Cordell told The Music.

“I grabbed an old chair from the garden that morning, and the nets from our fruit trees, something I’d used with my friend and photographer Lilli Waters in one of our shoots for my clothing. I love her use of fabric in photography and was inspired to use it in some way in film form, to capture this kind of impressionistic bride.

"The song is about the loss of love and witnessing the person you love move on. I wanted to somehow express the internal emotions of this person externally, without a distinct storyline, just a mood and a sense of yearning. Samuel scouted the amazing outdoor second location at the Westgate Bridge during the week. I loved this location with its contrast of vast sky and natural reserve, with the huge industrial bridge in the background.

“We spoke a couple of times on the phone, and then said, 'Let's use that and the studio and then that spot and just see what happens!' Luckily we both had a really similar aesthetic and separate ideas that seemed to gel and come together really, really quickly on the day.

“I'm not sure what Sam was thinking when I suggested I’d try standing on the chair and 'kind of dance' - I'm not even really sure what I was thinking, it was just an idea I had to try. I wanted to see what we could come up with creatively within the limitations of minimal props, with Sam experimenting with angles and spontaneously referencing some of his favourite films. Making this video was one of my most creatively satisfying collaborations!”

You is the first single taken from Cordell’s forthcoming album, Nobody Knows Us, set for release on February 14.