In his new video “Make Me Move,” Kevin A comments on love, emotional dizziness, and the mundanity of daily life while entertaining visual abstraction and quite often, his own sense of humour. Toronto R&B crooners (headlined by Drake, The Weeknd, and Daniel Caesar) have proved successful in the last decade, and Scarborough R&B/Soul singer Kevin A is a refreshing addition to the scene.
The visuals are a brilliant depiction of Kevin A’s newfound excitement and uncertainty. Music videos can often take away from the music; here, sound and vision are symbiotic. The images and settings are almost too familiar if you live in the GTA: a GO Train station; a sea of suburban construction zones; pacing from side to side while waiting for the pedestrian light to change. He hugs a streetlamp, refusing to let go. Later, he walks around at night in a tipsy daze. Kevin A is just another guy navigating new love and making music about it. There’s nothing extraterrestrial about him — he’s “just like us” — a sure formula for stardom. Who says MTV (or MuchMusic) is dead?
“Make Me Move” could easily be a song about our own emotional tug-of-war games. The “you” that Kevin A sings about only appears in black and white, as though he hasn’t fully grasped what’s happening yet, even if it makes him happy. At some points, he’s silently screaming in the video, while his voice slides into shimmering keys and tortured instrumental lines, blurring the distinctions between reality and fantasy. The music is casually gripping as velour-coated vocals blend with soft bell tones. Best of all, Kevin A leaves us plenty of room for interpretation even though he sets the tone for relatable (albeit painful) feelings to emerge.
