Synopsis

Calvin Harris and John Newman appear in separate, stylish apartments while a group of glamorous women move through a dreamlike night of bedrooms, bathrooms, a nightclub, and a series of increasingly strange environments. As the visuals shift from polished luxury to water, puddles, and freezing outdoor scenes, the video mirrors the song's themes of guilt, denial, and emotional confusion. Its final images place the characters in a river at dawn, giving the otherwise sensual clip a surreal and unexpectedly chilly conclusion.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released on September 12, 2014, shortly after "Blame" became the third single from Calvin Harris' album "Motion."

• Filming took place in both Los Angeles and London during August 2014, combining American and British locations into one deliberately detached visual world.

• UKFilmLocation.com supplied locations for roughly half of the video's backdrops, including the apartment bedrooms, bathrooms, corridors, and state rooms.

• The production uses a film projector as a key visual device. John Newman watches projected images of the women, creating an ambiguous link between observation, fantasy, and reality.

• The video's polished apartment setting contrasts sharply with its closing river sequence, where the models appear cold and soaked. The contrast gives the song's nightlife atmosphere a darker and more disorienting aftermath.

• John Newman first approached Calvin Harris about collaborating after developing a song idea with vocals and a few chords. Harris then built the electronic production around the demo.

• Newman later said that he wrote "Blame" with only his laptop in front of him and recorded the original vocal using the laptop's built-in microphone. That rough vocal reportedly remained in place for about six months during the song's development.

• "Blame" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris' seventh UK number-one single and Newman's third.