J. Views at the Tribecca Film Festival in April
He goes by J. Views, but his real name is Jonathan Dagan, and he is a two-time Grammy Award nominated artist from Israel who is now based in Brooklyn. J. Views is a polymath: singer, songwriter, producer, re-mixer, and art director; always pushing the boundaries of the creative world. He has worked with Moby, Kings Of Leon and Dido.
This spring he released his latest single Don’t Pull Away. The imaginative, evocative video features transgender model/actor Indya Moore and gay model Elliott Sailors. The song was originally released in 2015, but the breathtaking video really brings the tune new resonance.
“Every part of you is pulling me, so don’t pull away. Don’t pull away.”
The director, Tamar Glezerman, told NPR in an interview:
“The story of the video is that of a loss, love and even lust, between a singer and her object of affection…”
Glezerman stated that this love story was especially important to have in today’s political climate.
“I feel even more motivated to proudly celebrate women, women of color and LGBTQ people, through visibility, artistic collaborations and continuing to try and reflect the world as it is full of all kinds of different people with all kinds of stories. Stories that just got a lot more urgent to listen to.”
The provocative Don’t Pull Away has the seductive voice of Mike Milosh, of the Los Angeles R&B group Rhye, and Gotye, whose lovely Somebody That You Used To Know is now more than a half decade old, plus J.Views.
The video smartly shows the loss, love and lust between a singer and the object of affection who is soon revealed to be a woman who is filming her.
Glezerman:
“We had set out to make a bittersweet video about the commonest of denominators, heartbreak, with this particular one happening to be gay and interracial. No special reason required. Or at least, no more than would’ve been required had they been a straight white couple. However, that is not what America feels like right now, and I feel even more motivated to proudly celebrate women, women of color and LGBTQ people, through visibility, artistic collaborations and continuing to try and reflect the world as it is — full of all kinds of different people with all kinds of stories. Stories that just got a lot more urgent to listen to.”
Don’t Pull Away is on the deluxe edition of the album 401 Days, titled 402 Days, which includes a 40-page hardbound book. It will be released on June 16. The original version was on J. Views DNA, an “interactive album” which follows the entire 18-month process of creating his album from start to finish. Here is the website, it’s worth poking around on.
Can you dig it?
