The Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love

MAY 31 2003 · 12:00

The Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love (2003) Director: Thomas Klementsson Era: Early 2000s Swedish Indie Pop Breakthrough (2003-2004) - Era defined by the international emergence of Stockholm indie-pop acts via European licensing deals and MTV2 rotation; aesthetic sensibility bridging 1960s-70s retro warmth with early-digital minimalism. High curatorial value as a documented example of fashion-photography craft applied to music video production, with a confirmed photographer-director whose aesthetic fingerprint is measurably present in the quantitative data. One of two official videos for the same song, making it essential context for understanding the band's dual-format visual strategy at the moment of their international breakthrough. Context: Released as The Concretes' debut international single in 2003 (Scandinavia) and re-released in the UK in June 2004, 'You Can't Hurry Love' arrived at a moment when Swedish indie acts were gaining significant international traction via EMI licensing deals and MTV2 programming. The video's stark, desaturated still-photography aesthetic deliberately eschewed the glossy production values then dominant in mainstream pop, aligning the band with a broader European art-school indie sensibility. The choice of a fashion photographer, rather than a conventional music video director, to helm the clip reflects the Stockholm creative scene's cross-disciplinary character, where music, fashion illustration, and photography overlapped substantially in this period. Director notes: Wikipedia confirms two official videos exist for this single: (1) an animated version directed by Lisa Milberg and Liselotte Watkins, and (2) this version, directed by photographer Thomas Klementsson, which is composed entirely of stills. The quantitative data (saturation: 13.69, motion: 14.13, avg shot length: 4.51s) is fully consistent with a still-photography montage construction. Klementsson's background as a fashion photographer directly informs the aesthetic approach: the video functions as an extended editorial photo sequence rather than conventional motion-picture filmmaking. The warm tungsten color temperature (1.98) and high contrast (90.34) reflect Klementsson's documented photographic sensibility for 'dreamy visuals that allure, intrigue and mystify.'