Like The Beatles’ classics “Eleanor Rigby” and “Penny Lane,” Andrew Gower’s latest single “Underground” brings to life the strangers we encounter on public transit with catchy lyricism and a stirring amount of empathy for their untold struggles. The track marks the third single release for Gustaffson’s debut album Black & White Movie, which is officially available to pre-order today.
“Underground,” which features the lyrics “it’s like a black and white movie,” feels like a perfect single to mark the occasion with, as the track and its gorgeously-shot music video perfectly meld together Gower’s passions for film and music. Gower’s keen ability to connect with his co-stars from past projects and find ways to collaborate with them in his new venture with Gustaffson also comes into play with the music. “Underground” sees Gower reunite with his Ellis co-star — the multi-hyphenate and three-time Olivier Award-winning singer — Sharon D Clarke.
“Sharon had [already] been cast in Ellis. I had the meeting come up that they’re interested in me for Chet Harper, her right-hand man,” Gower shared about their first meeting, before he was officially cast in the series. “I was recording the album in the studio with the Elbow guys at the same time, so I had to jump on the train down from Manchester, back down to London. I met Sharon and had my screen test with her, [she] was so humble, asking me questions about the album, so intrigued by it, how it came about. That was kind of our start of not just an amazing working relationship, but a real friendship.”
Telling tales about music and singing kept the pair warm during cold, rainy shoots in Belfast, where Ellis was filmed. “The wisdom she passed on was incredible. I just feel so lucky that we’ve landed her in this video in an entirely different context, playing Sister Mary.” Clarke plays one of the four characters that Gower’s lyrics transform from nameless faces on a crowded train into figures that listeners can resonate with.
“Underground” Is About the People We Pass by Every Day
“Life isn’t always black and white.”
There’s poetry and beautiful irony in the way that “Underground” has come together for Gower. The song, as he sings, is an ode to the Underground, which he has been riding since he first moved to London at the start of his acting career. “I write a lot on trains — that includes the Underground train,” Gower said. “These are imagined versions of basically real-life versions of these characters I met; however, I’ve had some artistic license with them, but basically, these are people I’ve met in my 15 years in London. In essence, they are the protagonists, maybe even sometimes villains of their own lives. They’re beautifully flawed characters. The track itself kind of encapsulates the record — life being like a black and white movie, both the windows of the underground looking like a black and white movie, but also in life, that life isn’t always black and white. It’s about the grey in between.”
It goes even deeper than that when you consider how everything has led Gower to this point in his career. As with his previous music videos for “On Broadway” and “Flowers,” Gower has brought his past co-stars along for the ride. Gower met Matthew McNulty (Brother John) on the set of Running Naked, which is also where he first met Elbow’s Craig Potter, who produced Black & White Movie; Kiran Sonia Sawar (Daughter Jane) and Gower met on the set of Netflix’s hit anthology Black Mirror; and he worked alongside Waj Ali (Doctor Mo) on the short-lived Carnival Row.
“That’s why I want to talk to you about film and music because I think there is a huge bridge — especially with chart music, with a band — where this album, this record, can hopefully bridge the gap between music and film, and bring people who enjoy them just as much separately, together. It was our aim from the beginning with the record, and it’s our aim with each 13 tracks being their own little individual films. “Underground” is, hopefully, for the audience, its own little film in its own entirety.”
“Underground” Taught Andrew Gower Important Lessons About Filmmaking
“I take my hat off to all guerrilla filmmakers.”
“Underground” marks the first time that Gower has been his own character within one of the band’s music videos for Black & White Movie, which lends itself to the autobiographical nature of the track. While he does appear in “On Broadway,” he isn’t a true character within it, at least not in the way he is here. It was the music video’s director, Metin Huseyin, who he worked with on Outlander, who pushed Gower to be on the train with Sister Mary, Brother John, Daughter Jane, and Doctor Mo.
“Metin is an amazing director and also part of my company and somebody who I’ve wanted to direct. I always had him in mind for this video,” Gower said. “It was both of our ideas that you kinda need to see my relationship with these people to make the track full circle — to pay homage to the fact I’ve been there for fifteen years — and I did meet these people. But also, the fact that I think it’s always nice to see characters through somebody else’s eyes. It makes that connection with this one.”
The BAFTA-nominated director shared his enthusiasm about collaborating with Gower on the project, saying in a statement, “I love this song. When Andrew asked me to be involved and I heard the song for the first time I was blown away and have continued to be with each subsequent listen. It’s rare things that elevate us and this is a rare thing; raising the spirits and warming one’s cold extremities both physically and emotionally.”
Gower and Huseyin worked alongside a talented team, including photographer Martin Parr whose work they refer to in the music video. “He’s an amazing photographer whose photography is intimate and satirical with bright colors. With this, he wanted to feel almost Ken Loach-style, that you’re in the tube carriage with these people, and I’m there, but I’m not.”
By design, “Underground” required access to London’s magnificent Underground, which proves to be its own character in the music video. “As far as the video goes, this is the most guerrilla we’ve done,” Gower revealed. “It was nice that we had the studio to go to. We got the lovely shots in Elbow’s studio in Manchester, the big room where they’ve recorded some of their most famous tracks, and so it’s nice we have that. But the shoot was great. It was thrilling. Luckily, myself and Metin had a lot of prep time before to know what we wanted to shoot. We went out two at a time with each actor, so it was Waj and Sharon out together and Kiran and Matthew.”
The experience gave Gower a new perspective on filmmaking too. “Each film we’ve shot has had its own different journey of making it with my company, Oneboat Productions. This one was thrilling but definitely a different style to the others. I take my hat off to all guerrilla filmmakers and independent filmmakers who film like this.”
The music video is cleverly shot to avoid capturing other passengers, so much so that it almost appears as though Gower and the team shot on vacant platforms and trains. But that wasn’t the case, actually. There were other people around while they were filming, and it turned into unexpected marketing for Gustaffson. “We had our sound engineer, Jordan Milliken, with us.” Gower explained, noting that the pair worked on Outlander together.
“He’s done some amazing stuff over the years’ time, loads of stuff. He came out with us, and we were playing the music, and we said, ‘Sorry,’ if somebody was on the carriage, ‘We’re going to be playing the music.’ But actually, the response to the music was really positive. People were vibing with us and vibing with Jordan and saying, ‘Don’t turn it off!’ It was really nice. It was a really liberating experience. I think sometimes we can be on these big backlot sets with thousands of crew members, which is wonderful, but also, the heart of filmmaking sometimes is what we did with a small crew on that day.”
Naturally, Gower is hopeful that Transport for London will see “Underground” as a perfect song for their own marketing campaigns. “Hopefully, a song for TFL in the future to use when you’re going down. They can use a snippet.” Should the TFL be reading, Gower does have his favorite stations — as we all do.
“My favorite underground station is a humble station called Warren Street. It’s equidistant between Euston, King’s Cross, and Oxford Circus. The platform is always empty. It’s quite beautiful. It’s kind of the corner of Regent’s Park, as well. I always say the platform is always empty. We film Daughter Jane — Kiran Sonia Sawar — at Warren Street station. It’s my favorite platform. If you need to find me getting on the Underground, you’ll see me at Warren Street, closely followed by the iconic Piccadilly Circus, but just for the name. It connects me to Manchester and up north. But yeah, if I had to choose, gun to the head, it’s Warren Street Station. Victoria Line and Northern Line crossover.” Conveniently, Euston Square is cornered in by Gower Place and Gower Street, though the Gower in question didn’t mention that.
What Lies Ahead For Gustaffson?
“I think all artists love to leave something of themselves in the world.”
In 2022, Gustaffson debuted their first EP The Jacaranda, which featured four tracks, followed by their 2023 single “Northern Baby.” But recording an EP stands in stark contrast to the effort and commitment that has gone into recording and producing their thirteen-track debut album. “It’s been such an amazing — dare I say — baptism of fire,” Gower said of the experience leading up to the album’s launch.
“The team we’ve built and the people we’ve collaborated with have just given me the energy to keep going. I’ve learned so much. We talk about film sets — I think me and you could have a very good chat about the workings of film sets and stuff, and that’s over the past fifteen years, something that I started out not knowing anything about. I feel very at home on a set or with a call sheet on a job. However, the music industry for me — three years ago — I knew nothing about it. It’s been so joyful. I feel like, as I said initially to you in interviews, I stepped into this industry to finally use my own voice as a writer and collaborate with people who I’ve always wanted to work with. I think it’s been really liberating at a time when I’ve still been filming, and I get a lot of questions — ‘So what are you? An actor or a musician?’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m doing both.’ They’ve really complemented each other.”
Fans may still be waiting to get their hands on the vinyl for Black & White Movie, but Gower has already gotten his hands on the test presses, and it’s put everything into perspective for him. “I’ve spearheaded this, and I’ve been lucky to acquire some amazing, amazing team members, and long may that continue. But the biggest thing now is everything that’s happened — the music videos, the single, the album.” He went on to say:
“Each time, it feels like a win. But the vision now is, come the 21st of March when the album lands, [and] I get a tangible vinyl in my hand — I’ve got the test presses in my house now — that tangible feeling of having the artwork and knowing the person who made the artwork, and each song means something, it’s a really, really, really exciting thing. That’s what I want to do. I think all artists love to leave something of themselves in the world. As we spoke prior to this chat, that’s what the world needs now, whether it is maybe a few risk-takers and this has definitely been a risk, but it’s been the best risk. Every day, it pays me back in ample amounts of joy.”
With Black & White Movie set to arrive on March 21, 2025, Gower is already looking ahead to his next musical endeavor. “The exciting thing is, when it’s your own project, you can already think about who you want to collaborate with next. That’s the exciting thing with music. You sort of plan a year ahead, really, and all of those conversations are already happening. My list is as long as my arm of who I want to collaborate with next.”
Watch “Underground” in the player above, listen to it everywhere you stream music, and be sure to pre-order Black & White Movie today.
Pre-Order Now
