GRAMMY-nominated British singer, songwriter and producer MNEK has returned with an official video for his powerful and emotive new single, “Paradise.” The striking visuals take you on a man’s isolated journey through pyramids, brutalist buildings and a dystopian landscape of other metaphorical images. Watch The FADER premiere HERE.
“Paradise,” which features the iconic guitar riff from Ultra Nate’s iconic 1997 dance smash “Free,“ sees MNEK venture into new territory both as a songwriter and as a vocalist. An evocative, vital and lyrically thought-provoking R&B song comprised of ominous throbbing bassline and skittish beats, “Paradise” allows the singer to exhibit his distinct and majestic vocals, as he explores a newfound fragility with his falsetto on the song’s dark and emotionally stirring chorus.
The 22-year-old explains, the track is about how – with all that’s going on in society today – sometimes escaping the harsh realities of the world can be a freeing and cathartic experience, with the use of the sample coming about in response to the current trend in commercial dance music. MNEK says:
“Around the time I wrote ‘Paradise’, so much dance music was coming out and doing well with literally any 90s R&B song as the main topline, of the whole song. It really bothered me!” he explains. “So, I decided to sample a dance song for an R&B track. I’ve always loved ‘Free’ by Ultra Nate, so it was such an honour to have the blessing of the writers of the song to sample it for ‘Paradise’.”
Director, Ciaran Lyons elaborates –
“I think the themes of MNEK’s track will resonate with a lot of people. What grabbed me was the underlying idea of the different responses elicited by the chaos of the modern world – the desire to escape from the real world into a fantasy paradise vs the possibility of standing strong and separate from all the madness and cruelty, in the hope of preserving something better. We have this beautiful human walking through a fantasy landscape made from symbols of growth and decay, never stopping, never getting involved, but coming out the other end still intact, and still beautiful.”
“Paradise” follows 2016’s infectious single “At Night (I Think About You)”, as well as global smash hit and multi-million selling single “Never Forget You,” featuring Zara Larsson.
A keen collaborator, MNEK has also been involved with 11 UK Top 20 singles, and worked on tracks with global and breakout stars such as Beyoncé, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Clean Bandit, Stormzy, Dua Lipa, MØ and Little Mix. Check out the MNEK Collection, on Spotify which is created by the man himself and includes all of these brilliant tracks – listen here
“Paradise” is a perfect example of an uncompromising artist who has cemented his position as one of the most innovative, respected and unique talents in British music today.
Check out MNEK’s fantastic performance of “Paradise” on Mistajam’s 1Xtra show. Click here to watch it back in full!
