LEAN ON YOU - Shébani ft. James Chatburn
Director’s Note
While editing the LEAN ON YOU lyric video, I asked Shébani what her plans were for the MV.
“Oh, I think I’ll just film it myself, go on a small road trip with KC.”
I said well, there’s a great MV about a couple on a road trip that you should check out. I sent the reference over and, as it turned out, she’d had that exact reference open for months thinking about LEAN ON YOU. (It was Sleep On The Floor by The Lumineers)
A road trip MV, while fun, requires motivation and context (i.e. what is this road trip for?) Without it, the video would rely solely on aesthetics, which isn't a bad thing, but did not resonate with the song’s message. LEAN ON YOU is Shébani’s love letter to her partner, asking if she can rely on him even if she’s been “chasing crazes/losing all my patience.” As we developed the concept together, I felt that the sadness in the song needed to exist in the road trip, so we decided to think of it as an escape, or a journey to get rid of baggage together.
We used floral language as a metaphor for Shébani's baggage, using purple hyacinths to allude to her sorrow for the past. Together with art director @toktamysss and support from @myriaml.tea, we imagined how the flowers could grow out of her rather than looking like an accessory. The flowers ended up being harder to adhere to skin as a whole, so we opted to break it down into single flowers.
I was intending to film it myself in order to create a more intimate setting on set that would lead to genuine performances between Shébani and KC, but finally brought in our DP @zuhairdp when the list of locations just kept growing. I am unbelievably grateful to Zuhair for joining last minute and still doing amazing work. In addition, he introduced us to the generous @vinitsadhwani, who provided us with his lovely '96 BMW to reinforce the retro look of the song's overall release.
Beyond the magic realism of flowers erupting from skin, the LEAN ON YOU MV is simply about a couple on an intimate journey of trust and love. And boy did Shébani and KC deliver on that love.
