Esthero - Heaven Sent

What this video is

Released in 1998 as the lead single from Esthero's debut album Breath from Another (WORK Group/Sony), 'Heaven Sent' emerged at a moment when trip-hop — largely a UK phenomenon via Portishead, Massive Attack, and Björk — was finding commercial footholds in North America through Canadian artists. The video's Buñuel-derived surrealism was a deliberate arthouse gesture that distinguished it from the polished R&B and…

Why it matters

A landmark Canadian trip-hop music video that fused art-cinema surrealism with electronic soul aesthetics at a moment when the genre was peaking internationally. Its Buñuel reference points place it within a lineage of high-concept alternative music videos and mark an early example of arthouse…

The director

Philip Harder (born 1965) is an American music video and commercial director based in Minnesota, represented by Bob Industries (Santa Monica). He operated Harder/Fuller Films (1985–2005) and directed at Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart Commercials and Music…