Bret McKenzie - Shouldna Come Here Tonight

What this video is

Released August 15, 2025, as the closing track and lead visual from Bret McKenzie's sophomore Sub Pop album Freak Out City, this video arrives within a broader resurgence of New Zealand indie-pop on the international stage. McKenzie, a Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist best known for Flight of the Conchords, uses the video to extend the album's thematic playfulness — warm humor threaded through sincere…

Why it matters

Represents a strand of 2020s indie singer-songwriter video-making that privileges character-driven narrative and physical performance over visual spectacle. The warm analog-inflected aesthetic, slow cutting, and theatrical performance style position this firmly within the New Zealand auteur music…

The director

New Zealand-born filmmaker and musician based between Wellington and Berlin. Active in the NZ indie music video scene as director, cinematographer, and editor. Also known as drummer/vocalist in psych-rock duo Earth Tongue (formed 2016). Credits include music…