For her latest project, Martine Rose presents Everything Must Change, a deeply personal visual narrative created in collaboration with photographer and filmmaker Sharna Osborne. Previously unseen, the hazy, three-channel film bridges the worlds of design, music and performance, with Scottish singer and former Bronski Beat band member Jimmy Somerville taking centre stage.
Sporting a sequin-soaked unitard, Somerville performs a cover version of the song Everything Must Change, originally sung by Benard Ighner on Quincy Jones’ 1974 album Body Heat, while he wanders through dreamlike sequences. His rearrangement peels back the layers of the original, serving up something so raw and emotional it’ll make you feel something deep inside. Pairing the singer’s evocative falsetto vocals with a sparse synth beat and a poignant string arrangement, the arrangement amplifies the song’s emotional depth. Meanwhile atmospheric images of starlings and flowers float through the film, underlining Somerville’s cosmic pull to nature and symbolism.
“We wanted to evoke that feeling of surprise emotion that hearing music in unfamiliar contexts can bring. To explore how charged our musical memory can be. The first person who came to my mind when we discussed the project was Jimmy Somerville. There’s so much freedom and elation to his singing – but with a heart breaking, haunting quality to his voice too,” says Rose. “Jimmy moved so perfectly you could hear a pin drop in the studio. I’ll never forget watching him. He led the whole thing. It’s his.”
Beyond the emotive film, there’s a limited-edition 12” vinyl of Somerville’s Everything Must Change rendition up for grabs, born from a collaboration between 180 Studios and The Vinyl Factory.
Showing until February 24 at Sadie Coles HQ, 1 Davies Street in London, all proceeds from the screenings and vinyl sales will go to Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity. Who wants dinner and a movie when you can have philanthropy and a film screening.
Photography courtesy of Martine Rose.
