Music Insights
Video Views by JC: The Neighbourhood “Pretty Boy”
The Neighbourhood just dropped new single Pretty Boy, and re–introduce the central character in their upcoming concept album Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones.
A wistful portrait of oddity in motion, the music video for Pretty Boy is a touching take on the life rarely lived. Opening on a floodlit field, 50’s sci-fi sound effects cascade onto a glistening silver silhouette with a guitar. Holding one hand against the glare is a blinding sight: The Neighbourhood‘s Jesse Rutherford reincarnated as a street performer. First coming into realization for 2019’s Middle Of Somewhere video shoot, Chip Chrome is Jesse’s alter ego, and a vehicle for creative liberation. After the band going platinum in 2018 and over a billions streams, reinvention seems to be The Neighbourhood’s aim. An expression of Rutherford’s joie de vivre, the persona could be called Ziggy Stardust 2020.
Pretty Boy was shot over a three day stretch in the heat of August, and follows the newly incarnated Chip Chrome as he wanders LA, busking for silver dollars and contemplating solitude. The video plays like a silent film tragedy as we remain Chip’s only company as he hustles the streets, riding double decker tour buses and avoiding eye contact with pretty waitresses. Just when the loneliness starts chafing, Jesse’s irl girlfriend Devon Carlson makes an inspiring cameo. In Chip Chrome’s world, all that glitters isn’t gold – it’s just some greasepaint, and a little imagination.
Wait patiently for Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones, beaming to Earth September 25th via Columbia Records.