WATCH: Highland singer Katie Gregson-Macleod releases new video of breakthrough song "Complex"
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A VIDEO to a Highland artist's breakthrough song has just been released.
Twenty-one-year-old singer and songwriter Katie Gregson-Macleod from Inverness started writing her son "complex" in April.
The chorus went viral after she posted a first raw version on Tik Tok, inspiring cover versions from the likes of Camila Cabello, King Princess, Madison Beer, Tom Walker and leading to a contract with Columbia Records.
The video, released today Friday 21 October at 3pm, recreates the iconic travelling piano seen in Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles, with a Scottish twist.
It features Katie taking her piano on a journey through and around Edinburgh, passing by bikers, bagpipe-players, festivities and more as she performs the single, which is currently the BBC Introducing Track of the Week on Radio 1.
Speaking on the video, Katie says: “The video for ‘complex’ definitely shows a different side to the song and to me. I don’t think the song is entirely earnest, and I wanted the video to reflect that. We were discussing concepts for a wee while but when the idea came up of recreating an iconic music video in a totally different setting, the Vanessa Carlton video was a given. We were definitely keen to see how ridiculous we could get with the Scottish parallels but all the while not having it look like too much of a p***-take or too much like a Visit Scotland ad.
"After a short couple weeks of planning and the odd ‘I can’t believe we’re actually doing this’, we shot the video in and around Edinburgh. We started off in Holyrood, going around Arthur’s Seat. In fitting form, it was the rainiest and windiest it could have possibly been in the first few hours of the shoot. Nonetheless, strapped into the back of a van and sitting at a grand piano singing my piano ballad, we zoomed around.
“My favourite part was for sure getting my pals along as extras. We had some of my childhood best friends pull out their acting chops as ‘people on table at pub’ numbers 1-7 and got Hamish Hawk along to perform his supporting role as ‘beer-drinking man engrossed in conversation’. It was my first proper video-shoot and, although a really crazy day, it was a lot of fun. The team nailed it. I hope Vanessa Carlton enjoys our homage - that’s the main thing. It’s an iconic video and we wanted to honour that.”
The single was produced by Greg Kurstin (who worked with Adele, Paul McCartney and Maggie Rogers among others) and was released in August.
