Everything Everything – Cough Cough
2012 · Directed by Jonathan Higgs (as Jon Everything) & Phil Tidy
38K Likes
Best comments
1.“I literally typed 'cough song' in the search bar as a joke and this came up?! I'm shook, because this is actually fucking decent!”
More comments
- 2.“This song is not helping my cold.”
- 3.“This is a ridiculously hot video. And I'm not talking about the lava.”
The story
Cough Cough is about greed, and singer Jonathan Higgs picked crude oil as its symbol. He wanted the band covered in the stuff, eating it, setting it on fire. So he directed the video himself, credited as Jon Everything, with producer Phil Tidy.
After the bright, goofy colors of their Photoshop Handsome video, this one goes black and white and angry. The band hammers Japanese taiko drums, inspired by a clip of taiko players Higgs couldn't shake. Oil and treacle swirl in water, some of it shot on his own phone. Cut-out words give it a ransom-note, homemade look. And there's real footage of the 2011 London riots, which Higgs watched from his window. He wanted the video to carry the riots' rage and confusion, that feeling of having no purpose and no future.
It was the lead single from Arc, the band's second album, and their first UK top 40 hit, landing at number 37 in October 2012. Greed, oil and riots, set to an art-rock song you can actually dance to. Compared to most lead singles, that's a lot of homework.
