By Harry Gustafson

Photo Courtesy of Liv Slaughter

A few months ago, Dad Jeans released a video for his song “Tendencies” with Haasan Barclay. Now, Dad Jeans is back with a trippy video for new track “Stately Palms,” a much more experimental endeavor, both musically and visually. In his desire to explore all aspects of music, visuals included, Dad Jeans has shown a penchant for the psychedelic. While the video for “Tendencies” felt like a Sunday afternoon smoke sesh in the park, “Stately Palms” is more of a head-trip. 

The video – directed by Liv Slaughter, Haasan Barclay and Dad Jeans himself – features a lot of green screen trickery, showing a close-up of the singer’s face against a backdrop of changing scenery drenched in bold, phosphorescent color tones that include beaches, flowers, palm trees and more. His face must also have some green paint over it, because these images play out over his features. If it weren’t for his red lips and hair, viewers might have a tough time determining where his face ends and where the screen begins. Interspersed between these moments, we see shots of the singer sitting in a chair in an alley, watching the other footage on a small, cardboard TV.

Musically, the song reflects the video well. Built around a choppy R&B-styled beat, the other instruments wind themselves up and release in ways that defy more conventional pop methods. Dad Jeans isn’t concerned with making a typical club banger; he wants to keep you on your toes, and with dramatic changes – like a deconstructed bridge or a bass drum breakdown before a detuned guitar solo – he’s able to keep you guessing as to what’s going to happen next. It sounds like King Krule doing a David Bowie impression over a drum machine that just got the news Skynet went live.

This year’s slate of new material is in anticipation of “Save Yourself,” Dad Jeans’s album due in the coming months. Expect more music and trippy visuals soon!