BETC Paris and non-profit La Parole aux Sourds (“A Microphone for the Deaf”) have partnered up to create Unsilenced, a unique collaboration between the French-American electro band Haute (who composed the music) and the English dancer Billy Read (who wrote the lyrics and interpreted them in the music video).
All black and white, the video is visually striking, featuring Billy’s expressive and emotional dance style as he moves with the suggestive instrumental tunes to the backdrop of the Olympiades neighborhood in Paris.
But what makes this video truly unique is the fact that this isn’t a music video for an instrumental song!
Billy is in fact deaf and is actually sign-singing the lyrics, that he wrote by using his sense of touch to feel the rhythm of the music. Billy said of the dance: “The hardest part of performing Unsilenced was that my hands were singing while my feet were listening for the beat.”
The stunning video was directed by Alban Coret from Insurrection films, the powerhouse behind music videos for Drake, Alt-J and Travis Scott among others. The project doesn’t end with the video, but continues on Unsilenced.fr, an interactive website that lets the viewer discover the lyrics to the song, and those who wish can make a donation to support the work of the organization and their work to build bridges between the deaf and the hearing community.
Check out the Making Of video below as well.
