Kate Nash – ‘Foundations’Textual Analysis

Genre Characteristics

Falls under the Indie Pop genre She is a younger artist and does not use

many props of wear much make up, which makes her more relatable as a role model.

She is not dancing in the music video, but her plain clothes and sometimes abstract clips propose that the genre is Indie Pop, especially the way of talking as she sings. The lyrics are clear in both Lily Allen and Lenka’s songs.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals...

The video is abstract – it uses plastic toys when referring to people. Two watches are shown moulding together, like she is trying to hold on to time.

When she sings ‘let go’ two hands are seen parting from each other.

‘eat so many lemons’ clip of Kate Nash eating a table full of lemons because she is ‘bitter’.

‘Winding up’ – a small plastic wind up child is shown being placed on the floor.

Arguing is shown by the artists boxing.

Relationship between music and visuals...

The pace of editing is medium, the clip changes on the beat of the song.

The clips change when a new line of lyrics starts and at the chorus.

The beginning of the song is a good example to support the change in beat.

Artist close ups and star image motifs...

There are close ups of the artist as she sings, wearing simple make up and a dress, which makes her more relatable as a role model.

She appears in the storyline, making the video more personal and relate more to the music being made.

The song relies mainly on the lyrics, rather than the tune itself. The record company is looking to sale the track on Kate Nash’s unique style

and genre. The video contains abstract clips and she is represented as the girl in the story being told.

A positive, yet deep image is being sold and her music as well as her is relatable. Many girls would be going through what she is singing about.

Her music videos are normally simple and feature a lot of solos by the artist. This is the artist’s first chart song and how she is most well known, this is the

beginning of her image.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?...

The artist, like most indie pop artists rely more on their music than dressing down to impress, although they have an image to convey. This is not done my exploiting themselves sexually.

The artist sings into the camera throughout the video as she is talking about the man she is with

This connects her with the audience.

Intertextual references The music video reflects the artists image and personality.

She writes a lot of her own songs and appears as the star in her own music videos which suggests that she has gone through similar stories, like the lyrics she sings.

They are used in close ups, especially her facial expressions, which portray the emotions of the song.

The lyrics ‘intelligent input darling, just have another beer then’ are almost said instead of sung and the expression on her face does not seem like it could be faked.

Narrative, concept or performance based?...

Narrative:The video is telling a story about a relationship

between a couple and how the girl is fed up with the boy. The story is being told through the lyrics and there is a sense of the girl’s emotions.

Concept:The concept is that the girl is fed up of her boyfriend

and although everything is going wrong in their relationship, she doesn’t want to let go of it. This is shown by a clip of two hands letting go.

PerformanceThe main content of the music video are clips of the

artist singing into the camera and she performs actions such as, eating lemons and kicking over a skateboard. This is performance on the emotions in the song and has some connotations to lyrics.