Pop music icons Elton John and Britney Spears may be the famous names behind a new musical collaboration, but for Mexicans, the star of the song’s newly released music video is Mexico City.
The colorful urbanscape of the nation’s capital — as well as that of México state — is on full display in the newly released video for “Hold me Closer,” a musical collaboration between the U.S. pop star and the British musical veteran that features dancers in flowing, vibrantly colored outfits undulating throughout, with various recognizable locations from the two federal entities in the background.
Mexico City residents were thrilled to see their city represented in the video, and none more so than the city’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, who tweeted, “Without a doubt, we are the #CityThatHasEverything. Thanks to Britney Spears and Elton John for choosing us.”
Among the images included in the 3-minute, 25-second video are that of Mexico City’s Cablebus, passing by a swatch of colorful house facades; the house and studio of influential architect Luis Barragán; and another Barragán project — Los Clubes, an upscale horse ranch in México state whose massive pink walls are featured in some scenes.
Also featured is architect Agustín Hernández’s Praxis House, a hypermodern structure that floats out above a precipitous drop in Bosques de Las Lomas, and El Nido de Quetzalcóatl, a complex full of organic lines and fantastical colors in México state designed in 2000 by Javier Senosiain. (Visitors to the city can rent it on Airbnb).
The video was directed by Tanu Muino, a Ukrainian who has worked with other pop musicians such as Harry Styles and Cardi B. Muino said that the video was meant to represent intimacy within reigning chaos.
“From the beginning of this video, I knew there was a lot of excited expectation from the audience and the fans. With that responsibility in mind, I had to do something different and unexpected. The dancing had to be innovative and attention-getting and make Elton and Britney proud,” Muino said.
The Elton-Britney collaboration isn’t the only music video that offers a taste of Mexico’s massive, beautiful metropolis: other famous music videos filmed with the city as a backdrop include two by Coldplay, “A Head Full of Dreams” and the more recent “Humankind,” as well as “Heavy Seas of Love” by Damon Albarn and Feist’s “The Bad in Each Other.”
With reports from Aristegui Noticias and Twitter. and Indiewire
