The video for "On Hold" by The xx incorporates elements of performance, narrative, and concept. It features close-ups of the band members performing the song alongside scenes depicting teenage relationships and parties to illustrate the themes of love and breakups addressed in the lyrics. Intertextual references to films and other music videos from the 1980s help set a retro atmosphere reflecting the song's sample of a 1981 Hall and Oates track. The video uses voyeurism and depicts the intimacy of teenage life to subvert expectations of the music genre.

1. The xx
On hold

2. Narrative theories
 Todorov
 Propp
 Strass:
• Past vs Present
• Romantic love vs Platonic love
This video presents no clear narrative, more a series
of moments in teenagers lives alongside shots of the
band performing the song.

3. Goodwin’s theory
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
• Filtered visuals
• Black and white scenes
• Grunge aesthetic
• Performance, narrative and concept driven
• Suburban setting

4. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the
visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
Amplifying – Common motif of a telephone, links to the
song title ‘On hold’, in which a person finds it difficult to
come to terms with the fact their relationship has
ended. The songs centres around the theme of love,
seen in the video through the teen relationships.

5. There is a relationship between the music and the
visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
Scenes of a party are shown once the music picks up
during the chorus, creating a faster pace through the
quick straight cuts. Other than this, the editing and
visuals remain contradictory to the beat of the music.

6. The demands of the record label will include the need
for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motifs which recur across their work (e.g. a
visual style)
All three members of the band are shown frequently
throughout the video to sell their identity as artists, this
is done through a series of close-ups and medium
shots.

7. There are frequent references to the notion of looking
(screens within screens, telescopes, etc.) and
particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the female
body
Frequent uses of direct mode of address. The video
offers an insight into American teenagers lives and the
audience are placed as the voyeurs, even in the most
intimate moments. Both the men and the women are
sexualised to some extent in this video through the
explicit nudity and sexual content. This subverts genre
expectations.

8. There is often intertextual references (to films, TV
programmes, other music videos, etc.)
The song samples Hall and Oates' 1981 track "I Can't
Go For That (No Can Do)." The borrowing of the
classic early '80s tune represents the first ever vocal
sample in a xx song.
To reflect this, a filter is used to create a retro vibe or
atmosphere in the video.

9. Whether the video is primarily performance-based,
narrative-based or concept-based and how elements
of each are used
Performance-based: The lead singers are shown to be
lip-syncing along to the lyrics of the song in the video,
often whilst on the phone which reflects the title, ‘On
hold’. There is also a party scene (dancing).
Concept-based: Key motif/theme of the video – Love
and relationships. The song is about a broken
relationship and being in denial about such fact, the
video shows the lives of teenagers to perhaps reveal
what they wish they could go back to.