Badly Drawn Boy - Silent sigh

What this video is

Released March 2002 as the lead single from Badly Drawn Boy's About a Boy soundtrack — the score to the Nick Hornby adaptation starring Hugh Grant — 'Silent Sigh' represented Damon Gough's most commercially ambitious moment following his Mercury Prize win for The Hour of Bewilderbeast (2000). The single reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart and embodied the early-2000s phenomenon of critically respected UK…

Why it matters

A landmark of early-2000s British indie-pop soundtrack crossover, 'Silent Sigh' demonstrates how post-Britpop singer-songwriters navigated commercial film tie-ins without abandoning aesthetic identity. Directed by Garth Jennings at the height of Hammer & Tongs' music video influence, the video is…

The director

Born 4 March 1972, Epping, Essex, England. Co-founded production company Hammer & Tongs in 1993 alongside Nick Goldsmith, specialising in innovative music videos for artists including Blur ('Coffee & TV'), Fatboy Slim ('Right Here, Right Now'), and R.E.M.…