See Roger Waters’ Moving New ‘Last Refugee’ Video
A new video for Roger Waters‘ “The Last Refugee” shows all of the mixed emotions a woman who’s been displaced from her homeland might feel. Beginning in a squalid hovel, between an open-fire stove and a mattress, she dances while wearing a long parka. The scene changes to a clean, refined stage where she’s practicing classical dance in a gown, perhaps a flashback to her previous life or a fantasy for the future. As it progresses, it shows her wearing a hijab, visiting a daughter playing on a beach leading up to an emotional climax.
Waters made the short film with his close collaborator Sean Evans. Evans previously co-directed the 2015 concert film Roger Waters: The Wall with the former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter.
The video comes two weeks before the release of Waters’ latest album – and first rock release in 25 years – Is This the Life We Really Want? He made the 12-song record with producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) and a press release announcing the LP described it as an “unflinching commentary on the modern world and uncertain times.”
Waters will be supporting the record with an extensive tour, dubbed Us + Them, which kicks off on May 26th in Kansas City, Missouri. He’ll visit arenas around the U.S. and Canada through October 28th, when it wraps in Vancouver.
In the meantime, Waters has been rigorously promoting the album. He released the songs “Smell the Roses” and “Déjà Vu,” performing the latter with orchestral accompaniment on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.