Omen: an event regarded as a sign of good or evil. I hoped that the definition of this word would give me a better understanding of the music video, “Omen (feat. Same Smith),” by Disclosure. However, this was not the case. The good vs. evil aspect of the title reflects a mysterious vibe that lingers throughout. This video is the second of four (“Holding On” was first), in a series that will form a short film named “Caracal.”
As the “Omen” music video starts, we see a city that looks somewhat unordinary and modern, so we can assume that the setting is in the future (this same city is included in “Holding On” as well). A motorcycle then appears with two people on it who look like they are chasing someone, or are they being chased? The scene then switches to a message saying “two weeks later.” A young woman, who appeared in the first video, is covered in tattoos and looks uncomfortable about where she is and why she is there. It seems as though one of the tattoos on her arm is then scanned, allowing her through a locked gate. This is another sign that the club she is entering may be kept a secret due to some unlawful behavior. Right before she enters the actual party room, there is a hologram of a caracal (Disclosure member Howard Lawrence explains in an interview that this is a type of wild cat). This could be interpreted as a warning to the woman that the party she is about to walk into is a rebellious place where illegal activity may be going on. Once she is in, there may be no going back.
Inside the party, Sam Smith leans against the wall alone as he starts singing, with couples dancing all around him. It isn’t a coincidence that he is alone; the lyrics state, “When you left, I appeared to change, I was blinded.” He says that he didn’t see this breakup coming, but in hindsight the signs were clear, he just “didn’t pay attention to the light in the dark.”
For the most part, the lyrics sung by Smith are fairly depressing, and the pain in his eyes is unmistakable. However, the ironically upbeat tempo provided makes this song perfect for dancing. I am left wondering what role Smith even has in this video at all. In addition to the seemingly awkward addition of Smith, it is believed is that this video is set in the future but the outfits and entire party scene in general resemble a nightclub from the 1920s or 1930s, which just makes everything even harder to digest.
The main question that is still unanswered is: why is this woman who looks like she tattoos people for a living at this sort of upscale place? We see that she is inking people — perhaps giving them a special tattoo that allows them to join in this group of wild and rebellious partygoers? In the first video, we are told that she has a secret, so maybe this secret has some sort of connection to why she is there. The last clue we get to this puzzling story is when the blue caracal hologram that we saw earlier reappears. It is now in the hands of a woman at the party, and suddenly it turns red. This red hologram was seen on buildings around the city in the beginning of the video, but Disclosure does not give us the meaning of the symbol. After this weird, futuristic event, the cops show up to bust the party, confirming that there is some kind of illegal activity going on. But, what exactly? This is still unclear… hopefully Disclosure’s third video “Jaded,” which was recently released, will give us some answers.
