In this, an exclusive first look, British singer/songwriter Billy Cullum has released the official music video to accompany his new track, “Hard Heart Work.” The song finds the much-loved new music artist embracing himself and the outside as he travels from varying locations in an impressive edit that elevates throughout.
“The song is about the struggles quite early on in a relationship,” Cullum tells EUPHORIA. “It plays with the conflicting questions, should I stay and work on this? or should I bow out before I lose it?”
As for the impressive mix of dance and fluid choreography, Billy says it’s about our constant desire to move forward.
“The choreography for me was so crucial, which is why I asked the incredible Leanne Pinder to work her magic on the piece,” he begins. “It constantly moves forward whilst being pulled in different directions and each move is full of storytelling. We worked off the feel of the choreography. The locations and clothes all came as a result of the movement. Darius Shu has done a remarkable job creating this piece.”
Here’s an exclusive first look at Billy Cullum’s Hard Heart Work official video:
No stranger to the screen, Cullum appeared in the hit Russell T Davies show It’s A Sin in 2020. The show focused on the lives of a group of young people during the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The openly LGBTQ+ artist proudly displays his queerness throughout his work, including here in a love story and when serving a series of rather fierce lewks! But how easy is it for an openly LGBTQ+ artist to make it in the world of music in 2021?
“I think the industry has a long way to go in supporting queer artists,” Cullum states. “I feel that a lot more work needs to be done in bringing queer artists into a commercial space so that a much wider audience can hear from different perspectives rather than the crowded stories of heterosexual love. I hope that queer people of all ages can find themselves and comfort in the lyrics expressing queer love without any ambiguity. I find solace in music and I hope young queer people find it in my music.”
Hard Heart Work is directed by Darius Shu, with choreography by Leanne Pinder.