Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart — Angel

JUL 01 1990 · 12:00

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart — Angel (1990) Director: Sophie Muller Era: Late New Wave / Synth-Pop Swan Song Era (1990) - Final single cycle of Eurythmics' original run, bridging the introspective We Too Are One album period with the duo's near-decade hiatus; emblematic of early-1990s art-video experimentation. Exceptionally high. As the final Eurythmics single before their long hiatus, banned from US MTV due to occult content, and representing one of Sophie Muller's earliest fully realized narrative video works, 'Angel' occupies a rare intersection of artistic ambition, censorship history, and pop cultural significance. Its dual-world chromatic structure and emotional subject matter make it essential viewing for any study of early-1990s British art-pop visual culture. Context: Released in April 1990 as Eurythmics' final UK single for nearly a decade, 'Angel' arrived at a liminal moment in British pop—post-punk's commercial peak had passed and grunge was months away from reshaping global rock. The video's depiction of a séance and occult ritual, combined with its bifurcated chromatic world-building, placed it squarely within an early-1990s vogue for spiritually confrontational art-pop visuals. MTV's US ban on occult grounds rendered the video largely invisible to American audiences at release, making it a cult artefact of European alternative culture. The song's thematic roots in mortality and grief—rooted in personal loss—gave the video an emotional gravitas that distinguished it from the era's more surface-level MTV fare. Director notes: Directed by Sophie Muller for the single 'Angel', released 23 April 1990 as the fourth UK single from Eurythmics' seventh studio album We Too Are One (1989). The video features the duo participating in a séance, intercutting black-and-white footage of the occult ritual with full-color sequences depicting an otherworldly forest dimension. The video was not shown on MTV in the United States, reportedly due to its depictions of occult imagery including a Ouija board. This censorship contributed to the video's limited US visibility despite its artistic acclaim. The production represents one of Muller's most narratively ambitious early works, predating her Grammy-winning collaboration with Lennox on the Diva solo album (1992). Muller worked with Lennox and Eurythmics solidly from 1987 to 1992, directing approximately 27 videos across that five-year period.