Chiminyo Breathin’ music video review

Famed for his work in percussion and producing, Chiminyo has finally stepped into foreground and released his debut album ‘I Am Panda’; and the first single release from his album was the track ‘Breathin’’ which is very much a demonstration of Chiminyo’s percussion based background.

The music video is very fitting for the feel of the song and is an artistic look into Chiminyo’s visualisation for both his music and this particular single. The video is a compilation of clips set to the songs electro techno chilled instrumental backdrop. 

The video opens with a clip of a traffic light set on stop before cutting to Chiminyo in a house garage. We then cut to a clip of people on mopeds in the cityscape setting before returning to the artist in his garage setting up and drum kit and selecting the drumsticks he’s going to use for his session. 

Over the course of the next 1 and a half minutes there is a variety of clips of different people doing different things including a man in his garden chopping wood and whittling it, a women in her bedroom getting ready and putting a wig on, a lady in her garden picking fresh vegetables, an elderly gentleman feeding his chickens and collecting eggs, a father feeding his baby and then sitting on the grass with the mother and baby, a women on a bike turning up to the park where she meets a friend and the two share an air hug and waving elbows (something I assume was done due to filming during the covid-19 pandemic with social distance restrictions) and then there is a clip of a young woman walking in a forest/field style area who then begins to dance in a contemporary style fashion, it cuts to a man sitting on a bench in a park/forest somewhere who also begins to start dancing in a contemporary fashion and the contemporary dance clips are then cut back and for between the two with interspersed snippets of Chiminyo drumming as an almost culmination with the lyrical chorus coming to an end. 

The song then returns to its instrumental vibes and we see a new set of clips opening with a shot of the cityscape and tall buildings before following the same pattern as before with different people in different situations: a women in her flat who retrieves a sketch pad and draws an image of what seems to be Chiminyo, a man who seems to be on the decking/porch of his home getting a haircut, a man removing a dust sheet from a classic car in his garage before cutting back to Chiminyo in his garage then another cityscape shot with more mopeds, a shot of trees within the countryside, a man skipping with a rope in what appears to be an athletic gym based style, a women in her home seemingly following a dance tutorial, a women painting a mural on a wall, a man tightening his belt before beginning to dance, a woman rollerblading with a young child on a scooter and again these clips begin to get rotated between each other with clips of Chiminyo drumming again. 

The video then finishes with shots returning to each person in the video but this time they are still and the camera has panned to a close up of their face as they smile down the lens in their own respective backdrops before ending with a clip of Chiminyo drumming in his garage. 

In terms of the song and the video there are elements of both a perfect match and somewhat unusual choices; in that the song itself has a relaxed and almost soothing feel with the vocals and instrumental aspects, but the video is in someways quick paced with the constant changing of clips cutting back and forth. However the content of the clips feels completely fitting for the song as the clips are relaxed and slow like the song itself.

The video is obviously an artistic representation of the songs title breathin and the main lyric of ‘I’m breathin that smile’ 

The clips are all things that people to do make themselves happy or to feel better or just clips of them doing something that gives them the space to breath, it’s seemingly a compilation of little moments of sanity and haven within everyday life. 

The traffic light at the beginning of the video sets the tone for the song with it being a literal sign to stop and this video feels like a means of showing people that they need to take time to stop and to find a moment to breathe no matter how brief it may be.

The diversity of content within the video helps to show the message behind it is one that is universal, there is a variety of people in terms of age, race, gender etc all doing a variety of things, in a variety of places and it shows diversity in the world and also seems to demonstrate that no matter who you are you can always find time to breath and it doesn’t matter how you do it or where you do it as long as you do it because it’s so important to find those little moments that allow you to breathe and to smile and we all need to find those little bursts of happiness no matter what they may look like. 

The song itself and the video feels like it was something that is very much needed at this present time because with the global pandemic causing a variety of problems for people, one of the biggest problems for people is their mental health and mental health is so important to take care of and this video feels like it’s not only a mental health break, but also a reminder to take of yourself particularly mentally by taking the time to just breathe and if you watch the video or listen to the song and you don’t necessarily take anything from it, at least try to take away the message of looking after yourself and taking the time to stop and breathe.  

-Georgina Shine

@imjustabandgeek