The music video was recorded live at the small club venue WesterUnie in Amsterdam, Netherlands on July 28, 2017 while U2 were on their Joshua Tree 2017 tour. Fans who attended the performance were given mysterious e-mails by U2 titled "Remember Gashouder?," a reference to the name of the Amsterdam venue where the video was shot.
Cryptic advance warnings about the single and video's release were given by U2 a week before the video's online premiere. Several American U2.com members were sent mysterious letters with coded messages including the message "Blackout ... It's clear who you are will appear." The letter also featured a blacked-out photo Bono's son Eli and The Edge's daughter Sian holding hands. The letters were sent to fans located in the exact pathway of the 2017 total solar eclipse or locations close to the pathway (including Tennessee, Nebraska, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois and Massachusetts)
The song's lyrics reference the political turmoil, social divisions, anger and despair caused by recent elections and referendums in the United States and Europe since 2016. The 2016 U.S. Presidential election had a direct impact on U2's writing for the Songs of Experience album.
The music video is similar to U2's 2014 music video for "Invisible," which also was in black-and-white and presented that band performing to a live audience on a small stage.
"The Blackout" is the first U2 music video directed by Richie Smyth in exactly two decades. Smyth directed U2's "Last Night on Earth" in 1997 and co-directed U2's music video for "The Fly" in 1991.