The Verve - Gravity Grave

What this video is

Released 5 October 1992 as The Verve's third single on Hut Recordings (a Virgin imprint), Gravity Grave arrived at a pivotal transitional moment: shoegaze was beginning to cede press coverage to the emerging Britpop scene centred on Suede and Blur, yet The Verve's freeform psychedelic guitar work and Richard Ashcroft's unpredictable vocals kept them critically vital. The band had been signed by Hut in 1991 after…

Why it matters

A foundational document of early-1990s UK neo-psychedelia and shoegaze visual culture. The video's stripped-back, road-documentary aesthetic — contrasting with the high-concept MTV production values of the era — prefigures the DIY realism of mid-90s Britpop video grammar. As one of Richie Smyth's…

The director

Irish film and music video director based in Dublin and Los Angeles. Began career as a fashion and advertising photographer in Dublin before transitioning to music video and commercial direction. Directed multiple early Verve videos (Gravity Grave, She's a…