The 1975 - Settle Down - Music Video Analysis (3)

''I used to have a recurring dream when I was younger. The narrative was loosely based, but the setting was always the surrounding areas of where my parents grew up. I think I was slightly obsessed with how certain, bleak areas of Northern England contained my history and the soul of my family, my psyche – I always felt connected and disconnected at the same time. Metaphorically and physically I would visit these places frequently as a youngster and in turn have used them as the setting to a lot of the stories in The 1975 – the North East was the visual setting to my formative years.

I suppose, like any narrative, the meaning and the connotations within the story are subjective. I’ve always been quite fascinated with the potency of same sex relationships, plutonic or otherwise. I was brought up in a very open-minded environment, somewhere I felt that, whoever I was, I would be accepted. With this understanding I was also very aware of others, school friends, acquaintances – whom, due to where we lived, probably didn’t have such a comfortable place to grow up, we were unaffected and affected by taboos and the small-minded at the same time. I’ve dreamt the story of these two boys on countless occasions – every time drawing a different conclusion on its meaning.With ‘Settle Down’ I wanted to make a story about the extension of that dream, a video that explores love, a video that was as fantastical, consuming and limitless as the love we all chase and desire. Love as I have always imagined.”- Matthew Healy's description of the video.

For my third and final music video analysis, I am going to be analysing ''Settle Down'' by The 1975. I have previously analysed ''Girls'' by The 1975 but ''Settle Down'' is a completely different style of music video. I have chosen this music video for my final analysis as the artist of the song produced the song I will be using for my own music video (Milk - The 1975) so this allows me to look further in depth at the bands existing media products and also the visual style and aesthetics of the video are one which I would like to achieve when filming my own music video. Also, the music video was filmed in the North East.

At the very beginning of the music video, the bands logo and the title of the song are displayed. This is the bands brand identity being evidently displayed to the audience as their logo is displayed above the song title ''/ / s e t t l e d o w n / /'' The bands use of ''//'' is frequently used throughout their social media platforms and also existing media products. This allows fans of the band to associate the text because of the spaced words and the use of ''//'' with the band without even knowing the product will be theirs. As my song choice is by The 1975 this is potentially something I could use for my own music video if I choose to keep the bands name when creating my product. The bands logo features behind a shot of the sea slowly moving in time to the opening of the song.


The first shot of ''Settle Down'' is a longshot of a beach in Redcar. A major focus of this shot is an industrial landscape. This allows the audience to associate the video with the working class due to the setting. Another focus on the shot brings in the theme of isolation into the video as a little boy riding his bike is the only person on the beach.

A wide shot of a man walking down a road then appears. This conforms to Andrew Goodwin's star profile theory as no other band members except the lead singer, Matthew Healy, are shown throughout the video. Like the opening long shot, this links back to isolation. The shot lasts for quite some time so that the audience can see the surrounding area in it's entirety.

The third protagonist of the video is then revealed to us through the use of a mid shot and elements of mystery are brought in as we cannot see their face. They are standing in front of the camera looking over a field which is the same location the lead singer of The 1975 was walking to. The video then cuts to show close-ups of the little boy riding his bike from the beginning to the boy who is facing the field. The facial expressions of the pair show them looking sad/worried and this could be because of the pairs isolation.

The following scenes show the boy from the beginning take his bike into a garage followed by the other boy practicing karate. The pair are joined in scenes by presumably their parents and although they are no longer isolated from human contact, they still look miserable. This could be because they do not come from loving family background and are missing something in their lives. This represents the songs genre (indie) as most artists of the genre are isolated from the rest of the music industry because they're different. An interesting post-production edit shows one of the boys practicing his karate over the top of a mid shot of his mother washing the dishes.

Several medium close-ups and mid shots of the bands singer, Matthew Healy, are then shown in the video. Again, this conforms to the theory of Goodwin as we do not see the rest of the band. However, this could be because of the recurring isolation theme used in the video and Healy may feel, at times, isolated from his band mates. The mid shots and close-ups of Healy show him looking miserable because of his location and walking towards the unknown, it then appears that this is a theatre. He is the only one in the room and nobody is on stage. The isolation of Healy links him with the isolation of the two boys and  although the video is only one minute in we can tell that isolation is the overall theme of the music video.

''Settle Down'' then cuts back to the narrative of the two boys. Head shots are frequently used throughout this part of the video to display the characters feelings and empty emotions to the audience. The boy and his mother make eye contact and the camera does this with an eye line match. The pair still look as miserable as they did when they were alone and therefore even when around other people they still feel isolated. A close up of the same boy shows him lean his head backwards, the video then cuts back to Healy in the theatre and the characters are linked together even further as he also leans his head back displaying a similar facial expression as the boy. This also adds an element of mystery to the video, as the young boy could be playing Healy as a child, however, this is not yet known to the audience. Therefore brings the theme of anonymity to the video.


The video then cuts to the sea we see it the beginning. The sea has become gradually calmer throughout all the shots shown in the video. The sea is also a common feature across the 1975's media products as they use this for EP covers and merchandise. Therefore ''Settle Down'' amplifies the sea and the waves and conforms to the theory of Andrew Goodwin.

By the end of the music video both of the young male protagonists are finally shown together. This is shown by the camera of both boys running to each other from an opposite direction to then finally meet each other face to face. A medium shot is used to show this. The boys touch hands and a bright light appears through a post production edit. This could be a metaphor and add to the narrative as it could suggest there was darkness and isolation in both of the boys' life until they met each other. This metaphor is further shown as the light becomes brighter and doesn't just show through their hands but instead their whole bodies.

The star profile sector from Andrew Goodwin's music video theory is further shown in 'Settle Down' when more close-ups and medium shots are shown of Matty Healy at the very end of the video. However, this adds to the videos narrative as he turns his head to see the boys who have now turned into light. A final establishing shot is shown of a scenic view of the working class small town dominated by blocks and blocks of houses and the industrial landscape remains in the background. The town remains still as a dark cloud in the sky slowly spins around. This camera technique will of been a time-lapse that was then sped up during post production. The light remains in the shot and contrasts with the dark cloud as it beams onto the street. This could show the darkness in the town still remains but the protagonists don't let this effect them any longer as they're now united.