Video premiere: Ben Browning, ‘Even Though’

Kevin Bronson on September 5th, 2018

0

Cut Copy bassist Ben Browning says his loopy new music video is rooted in his “continuing existential crisis.” Watch if you must (and you should if you came here), but who needs angst when you have Ben Browning cooing “I’ll never let you down” over a balmy bed of sleek synths and ticklish guitar? Just order another cocktail and enjoy the saxophone outro.

The video is for the title track of Browning second solo album “Even Though,” which came out in June. The album abides some of Browning’s classic pop touchstones, such as Brian Wilson, XTC and Paul McCartney, with buttery production and a colorful shimmer, thanks to Browning’s crystalline, featherweight voice. “After listening to this record I hope people feel like they’ve gone on a smooth psychedelic journey through a colorful musical world,” the Australian ex-pat says of the album. “I wanted to create an album that people would want to play in their homes whilst cooking dinner or getting high and imagine what they’re hearing comes from a land created by Jim Henson — or perhaps they’re listening to a lost George Harrison album recorded in the Caribbean and discovered on a VHS tape 30 years later.”

As for the video, it’s a caper starring an old TouchTone telephone. Browning’s college pal Chris Hill flew from Australia to San Francisco for a visit, and the pair hatched the idea. “Then over one weekend we forgot our concept and made up as much weird stuff as we could. Loosely it represents my continuing existential crisis,” Browning says, adding another huge selling point: “And it also contains saxophone. ”

||| Watch: The video for “Even Though”