Esthero - That Girl

JUL 01 1999 · 12:00

Esthero - That Girl (1999) Director: Patrick Hoelck Era: Late-90s Alternative/Trip-Hop Video Era (1999) - Post-TRL MTV landscape where art-forward, narrative-driven clips from independent-adjacent labels competed for MuchMusic and MTV rotation A high-value archival artifact documenting the intersection of Canadian trip-hop, surrealist music video narrative, and late-90s art-forward promotional filmmaking. The video's conceptual coherence, MuchMusic award nomination, and confirmed directorial provenance make it a strong candidate for preservation. Its status as a promo-only release that nonetheless achieved significant cultural circulation provides a compelling case study in the gap between commercial strategy and critical reception in late-90s music video culture. Context: Released in June 1999 as an unissued promotional single from Esthero's debut album Breath from Another (1998, WORK Group/Sony), 'That Girl' emerged at a transitional moment in Canadian alternative music, when MuchMusic was actively championing homegrown artists whose aesthetics bridged trip-hop, neo-soul, and art-pop. The album is now regarded as a trip-hop classic, and the video's surrealist alien-isolation narrative aligns with a broader late-90s tendency toward identity-otherness allegory in music video storytelling. The Toronto street setting grounds the fantastical premise in a recognizable urban vernacular, while the glass-room conceit anticipates the early-2000s surge of conceptual, installation-art-influenced music video production. The video received airplay on both MuchMusic and MTV despite the single never receiving a formal commercial release. Director notes: The video for 'That Girl' was filmed on 17–18 April 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and released on June 17, 1999, produced under Sony Music Entertainment. The central conceit features Esthero as an alien inhabiting a sealed glass room installed in the middle of a busy street, unable to breathe outside air. The narrative follows her longing for a male visitor, her dream of following him through Toronto in ordinary clothing, her decision to venture outside in a clear plastic spacesuit, her witnessing him with another woman at a restaurant, her removal of the suit and subsequent collapse, and her awakening back in the glass room to a smile from her love interest. The video was nominated for 'Cinematography of the Year' at the MuchMusic Video Awards.