Curve - Chinese Burn

What this video is

Released November–December 1997 as the lead single from Curve's third album Come Clean, 'Chinese Burn' marked the duo's return after a prolonged hiatus into a transformed UK alternative landscape dominated by big beat, trip-hop, and electronic rock crossovers. Directed by Floria Sigismondi at the height of her foundational 90s MTV period, the video embodies the era's taste for confrontational, visceral music video…

Why it matters

Represents a pivotal late-90s convergence of UK shoegaze heritage with industrial electronics and big beat production. As the lead single from Come Clean, 'Chinese Burn' signaled Curve's successful stylistic evolution and helped define an aggressive, beat-driven strain of alternative rock that…

The director

Italian-Canadian director and photographer (born 1965, Pescara, Italy; raised Hamilton, Ontario). Studied at Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD). Began as fashion photographer before transitioning to music video direction via The Revolver Film Co. Known…