Wesley Joseph self-directs a darkly comedic video for his track Cold Summer, about the travails of crime boss Fredrick. 

Shot in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the concept follows Fredrick - played by Joseph - on the run after escaping prison. In the narrative, Fredrick finds himself in a game of cat and mouse whilst on the hunt to bring home a mystical missing briefcase.

A vibrant, visually arresting aesthetic accompanies the melodramatic yet comedic storyline, and grandiose themes of villainy, with the expansive desert and mountainous terrain acting as a hugely cinematic backdrop to the action.  Contrasting colour palettes - along with the hypnotic visual effects and high-end art direction - lend a huge amount of production value to the project. 

Action-packed and fast-paced, it's an introduction to the next chapter of the Wesley Joseph cinematic universe, and the artist's second video since signing to Stink Rising last year. Joseph explains that the idea for the video originated while recording the music with Leon Vynehall at his studio, The Ooz.

The film feels out of this world and unfamiliar to me. So much happened so quickly...

"We talked about how I wanted to create the theme music for a supervillain's return, something that felt uneasy, tense, and eerie, yet completely encapsulating - that would feel like the perfect beginning to the next chapter," he explains. "[The song] Cold Summer started to take shape at 1am after a day of working, and as soon as we got the atmospherics and drums down we couldn’t stop playing it. We wanted to make something simple that allowed my vocal to lead and bend the vibe in each section. Creating it was freeing process I think you can hear reflected in the song.

"The supervillain concept expanded into the universe of the film, and I wanted to bring the alter-ego Fredrick a step forward in our world - making a video that felt cinematic, textured, eccentric, vivid and humourous at the same time. As the idea got bigger, more characters were drawn in, and when all the dots were connected it was a pretty unrealistic concept to shoot in the UK.

"We ended up shooting in Kazakhstan and after a ten hour flight and two days with next to no sleep, filming in deserts, old hotels and golf clubs in the mountains, we came back with the video. Luckily we had a great team out there who facilitated the idea and made it possible. The film feels out of this world and unfamiliar to me. So much happened so quickly, it’s still a beautiful lucid blur."