Beautiful Disaster

Entering the music world a prodigious talent at 17, Croydon’s Rachel Chinouriri has been on the rise these past few years, cementing herself as a skilful storyteller who can capture the complexity of the human condition with empathy and depth.

Her latest offering ‘Beautiful Disaster’ takes the form of a soundtrack, paired with a thoughtful and gorgeously shot visual. Ambitious and accomplished in its cinematography, its polish doesn’t detract from its intimacy.

The opening image of a full moon melts into a periscopic view of people standing in their windows near-silhouettes, some look outward, others are immersed in their worlds apparently unaware of our eyes. The viewer is torn between a sense of omniscient detachment and a craving to connect with the figures.

It could feel voyeuristic, looking into people’s lives, but it’s strangely comforting. As viewers, we feel like we’re standing on an empty street. The windows and the figures in them shine out as threads of light woven through the dark night. Their open blinds offer the possibility of conversation, of touch.

‘My healing has come from all the empty wilderness’, Chinouriri’s voice itself comes like light beams in the barren landscape of ambient sound. Her words capture the emotional turmoil of isolation, sometimes longing,  sometimes acceptance - ‘I’d rather be alone’.

But seeing the final shot of all the figures together confirms that the strongest feeling is hope.