Synopsis

A circle of young women begins with an apparently innocent game of Chinese whispers. As the message passes from one participant to the next, the mood shifts from playful to openly erotic, with the women kissing in succession around the circle. The tightly choreographed arrangement, repeated camera movement, and deliberately stylized presentation make the encounter feel more like a surreal tableau than a conventional narrative. The video builds toward a provocative, intimate display of collective desire, matching the track's sleek, insistent electro pulse.

Factoids & Trivia

• This is the UK version of "Hustler," commonly distinguished from the separate US version, in which models consume increasingly excessive amounts of food and become grotesquely distorted.

• The video became one of Simian Mobile Disco's most talked-about visual releases, largely because its lesbian make-out sequence was unusually direct for a dance-music promo of its period.

• Contemporary coverage linked the clip's unsettling visual sensibility to provocative videos such as The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" and Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker."

• The song features vocals by Char Johnson, whose delivery gives the track a vocal focal point amid James Ford and Jas Shaw's tightly programmed electronic production.

• The single was promoted in the United Kingdom in November 2007, although "Hustler" had originally appeared on the duo's debut album, Attack Decay Sustain Release.