The Darkness have shared a music video for their latest single ‘I Hate Myself’, in which they explore gender roles and “self-loathing”. Watch below.
The song was released last month as the second preview of Justin Hawkins and co’s eighth album ‘Dreams On Toast’, due to arrive on March 28 via Cooking Vinyl (pre-order/pre-save here).
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Speaking about the energetic, punk-inspired tune previously, Hawkins explained: “At last, a joyous, raucous celebration of self-loathing. I think without regrets we stand to learn less from our experiences – to deny them and compartmentalise them is to deny ourselves an opportunity to grow.
“So, it’s time for us to sing this uplifting ode to remorse in the hope that we don’t make the same mistakes again and history does not repeat itself.”
The lyrics find the frontman recalling his struggles following the breakdown of a relationship – though he does so with a tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating approach.
He sings: “There goes a girl I was incredibly cruel to/ I thought that she was in my way/ The girl I adore/ She don’t wanna know me any more/ I hate myself I hate myself I do/ I hate myself so you don’t have to.”
Now, The Darkness have unveiled a simple yet effective official video for the track. Directed by Simon Emmett (Welcome To The Darkness), the close-up visuals were captured in one take and remain in their unedited form.
The intimate clip sees Hawkins portray a chain-smoking diva in full make-up with long, flowing hair as he stares down the camera lens. He delves further into the single’s theme of “self-loathing”, with the video holding a mirror up to the singer’s alter-ego.
“I love working with Simon Emmett. Everything we have collaborated on has turned out great so far. This is no exception,” Hawkins explained in a statement.
“The concept is related to the self-loathing that the song itself lyrically explores. And I feel like the visual accompaniment has taken this song to the next level, and it was already my favourite Darkness song ever.”
He added: “I can’t wait for everybody to see it – it means a lot to me… and I’m here for the conversation. I love you all. I just hate myself.”“it was already my favourite Darkness song ever, it means a lot to me… and I’m here for the conversation.”
Hawkins premiered the ‘I Hate Myself’ video in a livestream on his YouTube channel Justin Hawkins Rides Again last night (January 6). Here, he took a deep dive into the making of the clip alongside filmmaker and photographer Emmett.
“We were probably going for the Sinead O’Connor ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ video,” the frontman explained. “That’s one of [the reference points]. It is quite high concept in some respects.
“And one of the things that I’ve noticed about modern videos that I’ve enjoyed covering on this channel is when you just have one idea, and then you just execute that in an uncompromising way.”
Emmett, who took Oasis’ reunion press shots last year, said he “wanted to do something unique” with The Darkness’ ‘I Hate Myself’ visuals.
“We wanted to make a bit more of a statement, didn’t we?” he continued. “I think what we’ve done is quite brave and honest, in a way. I think it’s away from what you’d expect. And I think it says a lot more about current culture and social media. It’s a kind of comment, I think, on our culture.”
You can watch the stream in full here:
The Darkness are set to embark on a UK headline tour in March, with the trek including a show at the OVO Arena Wembley in London (find any remaining tickets here). They’ll also make an appearance at Download Festival 2025 this summer.
Last September, the band previewed the forthcoming ‘Dreams On Toast’ with the track ‘The Longest Kiss’.
Meanwhile, Hawkins has defended criticising Liam Payne on his YouTube channel and explained why he isn’t going to remove the post in light of the singer’s death last October.
“It’s really sad what happened to him, but it’s not going to change my view on those specific behaviours,” he told his viewers.
In other news, Hawkins is due to appear on The Stylistics’ first new album in nearly two decades. He contributed to the upcoming record’s opening and title track, ‘Falling In Love With My Girl’.
