Starting out as a two piece in 2016, Alae co-founders Alex Farrell-Davey and Allister Meffan made a big impact on the NZ music industry with their “intimate folk inspired sounds”. Recently adding to the mix are Jayden Lee on drums and bassist Marika Hodgson. The four-piece have just launched a brand new single Hit Me Where It Hurts, which is accompanied by an incredible ground-breaking fabulous music video.

I will tackle the song first, because the video blew my mind with its concept and execution.

The single itself is the brilliant work of a collaborative song writing session at the APRA AMCOS Songhubs initiative in March. What transpired was a soul drenched pop song telling a tale of one sided love. Hit Me Where It Hurts flows like smooth chocolate, showcasing vocalist Alex Farrel-Davey impressive high range. What it also showed me was how well these guys work and sound together as a foursome. The epic music video which ties the whole thing together in a quirky yet cohesive manner captures this group genuinely loving what they do. This is a catchy tune which stuck to my brain like glue. This song is the first to be released from their upcoming EP and shows a big change in direction for the band.

This is also the first single from Alae's partnership with Canadian producer Justin Gray (Anti Gravity records) which was recorded in Los Angeles.

The music video. This work of visual art was indeed a bold concept which supported the song writing with varying stages of darkness, humour and fun.

For the first time in the history of NZ On Air funded music video an ‘Exquisite Corpse’ style video where none of the directors knew what the other directors would be doing for their one minute section of the song, was shot using five of NZ's finest music video directors with a combined effort of over 150 music videos between them. Chris Graham, Greg Page, Alexander Gander, Charlotte Evans and Petra Ciibilich are the talent behind the visual artistic expression of Hit Me Where It Hurts.

The result is fresh and interesting, respective segments effortlessly melding into one another yet each one showcasing the uniqueness of individual director’s work. Slowly easing into the song, the intro draws you in. Shot in black and white with background sound of faint vinyl crackle in the background. Each segment different in tone, texture, mood and style. I was taken on a journey through the song on a roller-coaster of emotions. Serious, fun, happy, sad it was all catered for.

There appeared to be a vein of dry humour running through video, stemming from a certain segment. It was glorious. I laughed.

The final video was revealed at a group viewing party, where the band and directors all saw the end result for the first time. Keeping with the style of collaboration and communal creativity which has been a theme throughout this project.

This whole package of song and video has been a sensory delight. I truly hope we see more of these glorious joint efforts in the future. A true group effort between the music and visual aspects.

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