Play

Deep-sea diving off the coasts of Bali or Spain is on many people’s bucket lists. Welsh singer-songwriter and producer Ali John Meredith-Lacey, known for his moniker Novo Amor, starts off his music video for Birthplace with exactly that experience.

The music video (above) shows professional free diver Michael Board revelling in the serenity of ocean life, swimming among coral reefs, turtles and manta rays in Komodo. The visuals blend perfectly with the soothing, lush sounds of the song. But the incredible beauty gives way to a message about the effect of humans on the natural world, and the devastating impact of plastic use on the planet, which takes on the form of a large humpback whale made of trash.

“We hope that the viewer first falls in love with the beauty of the ocean, that they see that it is perfect. And then we hope to break their heart when we introduce the waste,” said directors Sil van der Woerd and Jorik Dozy in an interview with The Independent.

The video was shot in Bali and Komodo, and it took Board around 250 free dives – mind you, without any scuba-diving or free-diving equipment, including a mask for the eyes – to capture the footage. The crew, meanwhile, spent around 35 hours underwater.

“For us, the title Birthplace says it all. Nature and the oceans are the heaven on earth that we’ve been given, where we come from. How will we treat it?” said the directors. “The story unfortunately tells itself.”