Synopsis

James Blake sits alone in a remote room as the natural world outside races through time. He eventually leaves the floating house and walks across fields and through a dark forest toward the sea. Along the way, a procession of hooded, wraith-like dancers follows him, turning the landscape into an eerie dreamscape. The journey ends at the ocean, where Blake faces the figures and the vast, unsettled horizon. The video's haunting imagery mirrors the song's themes of isolation, change, and endurance.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released online on April 10, 2013, alongside "Overgrown" as a single from Blake's second album of the same name.

• The shoot took place in California, despite the song being associated with Blake's London-based electronic music career.

• The footage was shot day-for-night in camera, creating the video's unusually dark blue, moonlit appearance without relying entirely on post-production.

• The hooded figures were performed by Lil' Buck and his crew. Their movement combines a slow, ritualistic quality with the precision of street dance.

• The video uses time-lapse imagery to make the landscape appear to accelerate around Blake, contrasting the stillness of his performance with the passage of time.

• Contemporary coverage often described the figures as spirits, reapers, or wraiths, but the video deliberately leaves their identity and purpose unexplained.

• "Overgrown" became one of the key visual statements associated with the album, whose broader critical success culminated in Blake winning the 2013 Mercury Prize.