Cantrel (aka Neil Breytenbach) almost strikes gold with the video for his latest single “Runaway”.
The single, from the Prime Circle pianist’s latest solo album Chains, is a touching piano-ballad that, while not the most original song around, spins an at-times delicate and at-times powerful story of abuse that seeks to give any victims the strength and encouragement to get out.
“Runaway” is a song that deserves intimacy in its video and there’s probably no better setting for it than on the stage of an empty theatre. With the vacated Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City as his backdrop Cantrel brings his song to life, his face an open window into the complexity of his emotional state and his presence bringing added weight to the song.
As important as location is, at the end of the day music videos rely a lot on lighting and camera-work and it’s in these departments where things take a slight tumble. With a little less camera movement and grandeur in the lighting everything would come together perfectly.
I’m not normally a fan of predictable performance videos but, nit-picking aside, “Runaway’s” video brings the song to life in the best way possible.
