The new vid (+ piece of pure joy) from the Brooklyn band juxtaposes old family movies with modern footage of friends to tell the story of the song Ryan Lloyd once described as “a coming-of-age tale… again and again”
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GATHER ‘ROUND CHILDREN! I’M HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOUR FIRST STEP/SMILE/WORD/BATH/LAUGH/KISS/KICKFLIP/KUMQUAT (not necessarily in that order) WASN’T DOCUMENTED VIA IPHONE!
Back in the day, believe it or not, you had to use cameras the size of TOASTER OVENS to record those ~magic moments~. And then afterward, you had to put THOSE tapes inside OTHER tapes to watch them via VCR! (I’ll wait while you google that…)
Alright, I’m not trying to wax too nostalgic, because I’m sure that was a total pain in the ass (or, more likely, arm and shoulder), which is probably why I can think of exactly two home videos documenting my childhood—one in which Little Sam expertly pegs her little brother with a snowball and another in which she performs a 97% nonsensical monologue about pie (on brand!). But low quantity and questionable quality aside, that’s kind of what makes that old footage feel magical. Because every minute and potential memory wasn’t recorded and uploaded to Facebook + Instagram + whatever the heck the cloud is, the photos and videos that are in existence are even more appreciated, their importance (and entertainment factor) far amplified.
That being said, If you don’t have immediate access to the HOME MOVIES cardboard box stored in your parents’ attic… or, just as likely, the requisite ’90s-era equipment with which to play said movies… I suggest soaking up some vicarious (+ very adorable) nostalgia courtesy of Brooklyn trio Little Sun, whose new music video features decades-old family footage documenting oh-so-innocent moments of pure childhood joy—musical chairs, pre-pizza excitement, playing with sticks—digitized by Little Sun’s Ryan Lloyd and juxtaposed with far more modern shots of Brooklyn “adults” goofing around and living it up, shot by the artist over the past year.
“There’s some contrast,” Ryan told me of the content he combined to create the video, “but it also makes me think of what remains the same!”
And just like that, it’s this video for “Alright” (a piece of pure joy) that—two and a half months after premiering the single—I’m so, so stoked to premiere right here!
As a refresher, Ryan described “Alright” as “someone experiencing some waking paralysis from seeing infinite sides of the coin… Grey world, where nothing is black and white. Getting fed up with how ambiguous life is and shooting from the heart. A coming-of-age tale… again and again.”
As for the video, it’s about “how our inner child lives on in us and influences our everyday experiences,” and over email, the artist sent me some background on the project:
“I used to be really embarrassed by these home movies. Now I love them. Maybe it’s because I’m starting to love myself :). With the video I just wanted to show the connecting thread from an earlier version of myself to these current adult versions. They are my memories but when I watch the video I like to pretend that my friends in the video are seeing them too and reacting/interacting with them. The same with the music, I’m showing myself, but I hope the listener/viewer is seeing themselves.”
Take this video as your cue to 1) listen to/buy Rainbow Body, Little Sun’s excellent full-length, which dropped in early February, and 2) go play some tag, do some somersaults, eat some Dunkaroos while watching Doug, or do whatever it is that we were all doing circa 25 years ago (or hell, maybe just last week).
Whether you decide to capture it all on tape or not, well… I suppose that’s up to you.
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Follow Little Sun at @littlesunband, buy their music on Bandcamp and add them to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the band.