We're listening to music with our eyes now From Miley Cyrus to The Weeknd, visual albums are making a comeback

In an era where people listen to songs on Spotify while scrolling through their Instagram feed, the only way to capture attention is by creating something that engages all the senses. That’s why video albums are back at the center of the music scene with the upcoming releases of the films Hurry Up Tomorrow by The Weeknd and Something Beautiful by Miley Cyrus, on June 23 and 27, respectively. Sight accompanies sound, forming a new language and creating an immersive and synesthetic experience. Music films work because today listening to music is no longer enough, an album needs to be dressed, staged, a phenomenon that’s bringing videos back to artistic and commercial relevance. For music creators, video albums have become the ideal format to control the aesthetic narrative. This is how the best collaborations with fashion brands are born: from the red dress by Jean Paul Gaultier worn by Rosalía in Motomami to Craig Green’s utility pants in FKA twigs’ video album, clothing becomes an active part of musical projects.

For those who grew up watching MTV, the idea of accompanying a single with a video is nothing new, but visual albums are a different story - just think of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, a psychedelic animated film from 1966 that spawned the music album of the same name, or Interstellar 5555, the sci-fi project by Daft Punk released in 2003. In contemporary music, it’s Beyoncé who officially pioneered this format with Lemonade, the visual album of her 2016 music release. In Lemonade, each outfit builds a specific atmosphere, with the twelve singles corresponding to as many chapters, each indicating a precise emotional state that marks the evolution of Beyoncé’s most introspective and truthful work. To develop the album’s visual imagery and narrative phases, the artist collaborated with British-Somali poet Warsan Shire, whose verses accompany the album’s voice and visuals. As the images flow across the screen, we see the singer in an apocalyptic New Orleans destroying almost everything while wearing a yellow chiffon dress designed by Peter Dundas for Roberto Cavalli, or in 6 Inch, a track featuring The Weeknd, setting a house on fire wearing a brocade tuxedo and platform sandals by Gucci.

After Beyoncé, other musicians have flirted with cinema. Among the most notable are Kendrick Lamar with good kid, m.A.A.d city, Rosalía with Motomami, and FKA twigs with a 16-minute video for her self-titled EP M3LL155X; in each case, the artists moved toward a more cinematic than musical language. This year, things get even more interesting with Miley Cyrus and The Weeknd both taking over cinemas worldwide in the same month to tell the story of their new album releases. Although they may seem like two different projects, they actually stem from the same need: to create an entirely new universe. The former, with Something Beautiful, closely follows the style of Lemonade, giving fashion a starring role. «The fashion direction is always inspired by Miley and the music,» says Bradley Kenneth, Miley Cyrus’ longtime stylist, in an interview with Vogue. «We actually hold the record for the largest collection of Mugler archives ever sent to a single individual, which is still surreal to say,» he adds, confirming that for the American pop star, the visual language of fashion is just as important as her music. With Something Beautiful, Cyrus returns to the heart of the concept: an album to be watched from beginning to end, with a strongly coherent aesthetic and an autobiographical narrative built through imagery.

In Hurry Up Tomorrow, directed by Trey Edward Shults and starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, The Weeknd brings to life his alter ego, Abel, and does so not only through feelings of uncertainty and unease, but also through his choice of clothing. In the film, while The Weeknd wears a long black hooded tunic adorned with gold inserts and latex gloves (the same outfit seen in his recent ‘Till Dawn After Hours Tour), Abel always appears in jeans, a tank top, and a hoodie, representing his more real counterpart. The Weeknd is a music giant, and proves it through his always eye-catching clothing. Abel, on the other hand, still hides in the shadow of that music titan, wrapped in a simple oversized hoodie. What’s clear, though, is that neither artist left their outfit choices to chance, aiming in every possible way to tell the story of their transformation, their insecurities, and their strengths.

Fashion and music are once again in a symbiotic relationship. The former becomes an emotional director that allows for storytelling even beyond words. Together, these two languages, opposite but complementary, put into play a marketing strategy like no other. The format of audiovisual albums is the perfect solution for the pop industry: the audience, intrigued by the multisensory experience, is drawn in by both the visuals and the sound of the project. Moreover, with concert ticket prices skyrocketing, cinema screenings make the interaction between artist and fan more inclusive, bringing the magic of a live show everywhere at a more accessible price. Also not to be underestimated are the partnerships between artists and fashion brands, which make projects more compelling and support the often exorbitant ambitions of their creators. Video albums are exactly what we need now: not just a playlist, but a whole world to fully immerse in.