Maria Somerville - Projections

JUL 01 2024 · 12:00

Maria Somerville - Projections (2024) Director: Maria Somerville, Michael Speers, Róisín Berkeley (collective) Era: Post-Pandemic Indie Resurgence (2023–2025) - A period of DIY auteurism on legacy labels, with artists reclaiming tactile, lo-fi visual languages as a counter to algorithmic content production. High curatorial value as a primary document of a significant moment in contemporary Irish independent music: Somerville's transition from self-released artist to a major independent label (4AD), executed without compromise to her DIY visual ethos. The deliberately degraded VHS format, collaborative self-production, and transnational shooting locations make this an exemplary artefact of early-2020s anti-spectacular music video culture and a valuable counterpoint to contemporaneous high-production-value visual releases on the same label. Context: Released as Somerville's debut single on 4AD on 30 September 2024, 'Projections' bridges two distinct Irish cultural geographies, Connemara's Atlantic ruralism and the cosmopolitan Irish diaspora presence in Southern France, through VHS footage that aestheticises distance, memory, and belonging. The track is the lead single from Somerville's 2025 album Luster, and its release marks a significant moment in the contemporary Irish DIY music scene's relationship with a prestige British independent label whose heritage (Cocteau Twins, Lush, Pixies) resonates deeply with the sonic lineage Somerville inhabits. The use of obsolete consumer video technology positions the work against the hyper-produced visual economy of contemporary streaming-era music video. Director notes: The video for 'Projections' was shot on VHS format across two geographically and culturally distinct locations: Marseille, France, and Somerville's native Galway, Ireland. It was built collaboratively by Somerville, Michael Speers, and Róisín Berkeley, and released on 30 September 2024 as Somerville's debut single on 4AD. The use of VHS was not incidental but an intentional aesthetic and conceptual choice, aligning the visual grammar with the song's themes of memory, place, and projection. No commercial production company is credited; the work is entirely self-produced.