“Away From Here”- The EnemyThe Enemy are an English rock band that hail from Coventry and formed in 2006; they are signed to Warner Music Group in the UK. Their single “Away From Here” is from their first album titled “We’ll Live and Die in These Towns” The music video is a performance/narrative where the band perform the song with instruments and are, at the same time, telling the story of people’s daily routines of going to work and only having Saturday off. The band is basically singing about the fact that they don’t want this life; they want a life where they are freer.

Genre characteristics:

Goodwin’s theory states that each genre has particular characteristics that help make it a genre. One of the main characteristics of the indie genre is that the artist has a performance element in their video. The long shot of the band on right highlights their performance element within their music video. The long shot establishes the members of the group and their instruments.

Another key feature of the indie genre is that is very independent from mainstream music hence the term “indie”. In the song “Away From Here” the band is very independent from mainstream music because their clothes, image, music video and location of the music video are not in touch with mainstream music. For example the medium shot of two band members on right shows them wearing black sports jackets with a t-shirt underneath. Mainstream music is very image orientated and most mainstream videos contain the band members showing some skin however “The Enemy” have clearly rejected mainstream music in order to be more unique in their delivery of the song.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

There is a very strong illustrative relationship between the lyrics and visuals in the song. For example in the opening the lead singer sings “I'm so sick, sick, sick and tiredOf working just to be retired” followed by a medium shot of an elderly couple sitting at the dinner table. The lead singer then sings “I don't want your company car” followed by another medium long shot of a woman washing a posh car and so on. There are also continuous references to various methods of travel the band can use to get “away from here” followed by close ups and medium shots of various transport methods. They do not specify what “here” is but the audience may assume that “here” could mean their daily routine lives from which they cannot derive any enjoyment.

Relationship between music and visuals

There is a very strong relationship between the music and visuals. For example at the beginning of the video a close up of the lead singer’s face is used to highlight the fact that he’s singing and also to establish his role in the group. A long shot is also used when the two band members strum their guitars twice in the beginning of the music video to highlight their role in the group and their skills. Also, when the drums are more prominent in the music video, a medium close up is used to establish the drummer’s role in the band and to highlight that he’s the one playing the drums.

Demands of the record label

The typical record label would demand that the band have their own unique selling point that would help them establish themselves as a band. The Enemy’s unique selling point is their laid-back, casual image where they are wearing black sports jackets and t-shirts. Their image makes it easier for audiences to relate to them because they are so relaxed in music videos and appear to only care about their music. Another demand of the record label is that the music video must contain various close up and medium close up shots of the band in order to establish their roles. For example, throughout the music video many medium close ups and close ups are used to establish the identity of the lead singer, the drummer and the guitarist.

Notion of looking

There is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body and there’s a very subtle notion of looking present within the video. When we see the elderly couple sitting at the table and a woman cleaning her car the audience feel as if they are getting a glimpse into the life of various types of people which initiates a sense of “looking” or glimpsing into someone else’s life.

Intertextual references:

There are intertextual references within the music video. For example there are various clips from other sources and video recordings that make up the bulk of the video. For example the clips of the planes taking off or flying in the air have probably been taken from TV programme archives. Also, the brief video clip of someone having an argument at the club may be from the band’s personal video archives, or again they may be from TV programme archives. The band may have used these clips in order to illustrate the song’s lyrics. For example the airplane is the mode of transport they may use if they want to “get away from here” or the argument in the club may have been used to demonstrate an intense situation that makes people want to “get away from here”.