It's a gorgeously delivered project, both sonically immersive and visually expansive, set as it is against the dramatic and incredibly beautiful backdrop of Central Otago.

This is no fickle, throw-away 15 minute short.

For those who care to indulge, it is a thought-provoking, epic exploration into calm self-awareness and self-actualisation, with music blog Ambient Light declaring that Here “offers the viewer a rich and valuable space for mindfulness and contemplation.”

McLaney expands, saying “That’s the intent. When you are sitting there staring at a mountain, you’re not really thinking ‘mountain, mountain, mountain’, you’re thinking about something else in your life. You are just using that still space to access a calm response.”

“I hope with the film, and each music video, that there is a sense of contemplation and the empathy of struggle; you know the empathy that everyone is dealing with stuff. And that’s the thing about those calm shots where I’m looking out across various vistas – you never know what’s going on in someone’s mind. From a distance, someone may look utterly tranquil. The naked eye can’t tell the difference between a prayer and a thought.”

Now three decades into his musical career and having gone through many different stages, McLaney believes that he has evolved into a more fully realised musician.

“I feel that The Hinterlands and this visual extension of it, is what I have been trying to make my entire life. I am ready to pull out all of the stops now. I’ve arrived and I’m ready to present it all.”

The second short film, There, will be ready for release in late May.

LISTEN TO THE HINTERLANDS ALBUM HERE

PURCHASE THE HINTERLANDS LIMITED EDITION 12” VINYL AND CD’s HERE