Stella Donnelly‘s ‘Season’s Greetings’, taken from her debut album Beware of the Dogs, explores the tensions that come with a less than comfy Christmas reunion – when you’re “forced into a small space with people who you generally spend the rest of the year avoiding.”
It’s only fitting, then, that the song’s new video – directed by Nick McKk and Julia Jacklin – sees Donnelly show up to a festive picnic that moves from uncomfortable and probing questions into chaos, eventually descending into an all-in food fight.
Funny and dark, it’s the perfect visual to accommodate the wry humour that Donnelly displays in her songwriting.
“From the moment I wrote ‘Season’s Greetings’, I could visualise a video concept for it. I wanted to try and exaggerate the sometimes-nuanced atmosphere of a blisteringly hot, Australian Christmas lunch,” says Donnelly of the video.
“Working with Nick and Julia on this made the day so much fun because they were able to actually manifest my ideas into a reality. Getting to assign characters to my friends and dog was the most joyful experience, especially when we were all cast as fucked up versions of ourselves. Once we were in our costumes and makeup it was really easy to let the story tell itself and Nick and Julia captured this so well. No dogs were harmed in the shooting of this film!”
Check out the video below. Donnelly just wrapped up a national tour in support of Beware of the Dogs, but you can catch her in February when she plays Laneway Festival 2020.
