Live Review: Josef Salvat 'Hustler' (Official Video)

Australian-born Londoner Josef Salvat is making beautifully solemn piano and electronic music, similar to the likes of Jack Garratt and Jamie Woon, and the new video for his track 'Hustler' is an appropriately cinematic accompaniment to his sound.

The song was actually released a while ago but has recently resurfaced online thanks to the video – it’s one of those that feels more like a feature length film condensed into under five minutes. Dark and beautifully shot, it’s got the feel of a fifties Hollywood blockbuster or a murky film noir classic thanks to its cynical attitude and sexual motivations.

The video opens with an old codger telling Josef's character that ‘the world is a pile of "sh*t without love". Over the next few minutes we trace his evening as the self-professed hustler, witness to grim back alley fights and sideline observer in darkened UV lit rooms. Josef plays a man seemingly incapable of love, spending his nights searching out lustful and reckless experiences. He sings that his "mind says no, but the body says please", showing the carnal desire that underpins this sad and prescient song.

Directed by Casper Balslev, who has also worked with MØ, Marina and the Diamonds and The Presets, it features a lot of skin on skin contact, silhouetted scenes and cross dressing. Searching for love in an empty and hollow nighttime landscape, you feel that Josef’s world is imploding as the camera in the final shot careers up towards his fearful face, like a rabbit caught in headlights.

Words by Katie Rowley

LISTEN TO MORE MUSIC HERE

SEE ALSO:

JACK GARRATT 'THE LOVE YOU'RE GIVEN'