Bret McKenzie - A Little Tune

What this video is

Released May 11, 2022 as the lead single for Bret McKenzie's debut solo album 'Songs Without Jokes' (Sub Pop), the video arrives as a deliberate artistic recontextualization: McKenzie, globally known as one half of Flight of the Conchords and as an Academy Award-winning songwriter for The Muppets (2011), signals a sincere turn toward non-comedic, Randy Newman- and Harry Nilsson-influenced adult pop. Shooting at the…

Why it matters

Marks a high-profile pivot within the New Zealand indie canon: a comedic songwriter of international renown publicly committing to sincere singer-songwriter craft. The video's theatrical setting and warm analog-emulating grade align the release with the broader 2020s indie folk revival (Phoebe…

The director

Ezra Simons is a New Zealand-based director who co-produced the 'A Little Tune' video alongside Gussie Larkin, a member of the NZ experimental duo Earth Tongue. Simons' work on this video demonstrates a command of location-driven, theatrically grounded…