Music Commentary

The Three Faces of KT Tunstall

The British singer shot three separate clips for her latest single, ''Suddenly I See''

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By Leah Greenblatt

The fierce British folkie currently scaling the charts with her second single, ''Suddenly I See,'' has shot three(!) separate videos for the tune: the European original; an American take you'll find on the deluxe edition of her 2006 debut, Eye to the Telescope; and the colorful clip now airing on MTV (all are on YouTube). EW asked her to walk us through each.

TAKE 1: DANCING WITH HERSELF
Synopsis In the official European video, two separate Tunstalls — one good, one evil — face off in a dark warehouse, with the aid of digital trickery; kung-fu antics, unfortunately, do not ensue. Says Tunstall ''So the idea is 'Suddenly I See' that there's two sides to a person. I wish we could have actually had a proper fight, done it more elaborately...but that wasn't really in the budget...so we just have a sort of sing-off.'' B

TAKE 2: BIG TOP BABE
Synopsis Tunstall is a dreamy young woman imagining life as the star of a fantastic circus, all shot in Bucharest, Romania. Says Tunstall ''I adored making this. Patrick [Daughters, who also helmed Yeah Yeah Yeahs' ''Gold Lion''] is great and he's very hot as well, which made it painless to work for two days in a leotard. Bucharest was amazing but dilapidated. The label basically thought [the video] was too depressing.'' B+

TAKE 3: LARGER THAN LIFE
Synopsis A whimsical journey through an animated wonderland, with Tunstall looming Godzilla-like over teeming city blocks, scaling a bridge, and floating through the sky. Says Tunstall ''This is kind of unadulterated joy, very upbeat and happy; [husband-wife directing team] Honey are absolutely wicked. I spent 12 hours in front of a greenscreen while they explained what they were going to animate. And it reflected the artwork I'd done for the album, a theater diorama.'' A-

Posted Jan 16, 2007 | Published in issue #916 Jan 19, 2007 | Order Article Reprints